Mercantilism was a major motivating factor for European countries to begin exploring.
Mercantilism was the economic theory that there was a limited amount of wealth in the world and whoever had the most wealth would have the most power.
European countries believed in the theory of mercantilism to gain power in the world. To get access to the most wealth in the world, a European country had to obtain colonies. The relationship between the mother country and the colony would guarantee the wealth of the colony came back to benefit the mother country. countries typically controlled the trade of the colony to ensure the resources and wealth only went into the hands of the mother country.
