I am writing a paper on the benefits England got from letting their people settle North America as well as the effects the migration had on Europe. My trouble is that I am having a tough time finding credible sources with good information and wanted to know if anyone could help me.Thanks in advance.

Hello Alonso!  Check out Lars G. Magnusson who can explain the concepts of Mercantilism for you.  Here is a link to the Google Book excerpt. [url url=http://”http://books.google.com/books?id=3H8gBQv5MysC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=Lars+G.+Magnusson&source=bl&ots=YJ08GkjE0q&sig=AkCe8DuLtHjWwGJfpBdrONgnuVg&hl=en&ei=Dw8kTKfLB4LfnAfRnKCSDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Lars%20G.%20Magnusson&f=false”%5DGoogle Book Link[/url]As to the migration part try [url url=http://”http://books.google.com/books?id=ug3vygR4GWIC&pg=PA177&dq=British+Migration+Colonies&hl=en&ei=zg8kTNzlCaHpnQf7wOWSDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=British%20Migration%20Colonies&f=false”%5DHere%5B/url%5DMind you these are just to get you looking in the right direction.  Also, Google “Economy of Scale” which is another concept associated with Mercantilism.

Donnie – I'm curious how mercantilism played a major role in the migration of colonists to North America.  I thought that mercantilism had more to do with the import and export of goods than it did with demographic shifts, but correct me if I'm missing something.

I mentioned Mercantilism because that was the economic policy/structure of the time.  The benefits of empire can't be weighed without understanding the economic platform from which it was run.  The migration patterns can be related because of the economic opportunities afforded colonists as suppliers to the empire.  Obviously the empire needed workers to extract raw materials to send back to the homeland to be made into finished goods.  So colonization itself is a business venture designed to feed the increase in economies of scale.  Anyway, it's a beginning for Alonso to start looking.

I'll make a hunch about the effects on Europe from migration to North America, but I'm speaking on the fly and could be off in some of my statements.  I would say that for much of Europe, migration had a negligible demographic impact because of the gradual flow of colonists.  However, in countries such as England, the outflow of Puritans and other religious minorities would have decreased religious tensions within the mainland and thereby cemented power in the hands of established rulers and the Church of England (especially as the Catholic threat was diminished toward the late-17th century).  Economically, North American colonies became an increasingly beneficial source of income for Europe and enticed European powers to increase their holdings in these lands.  The benefits were different for the nations; in the Caribbean, Spain benefited from the sugar trade while further north, cotton, tobacco, fisheries, fur, timber, etc. benefited countries such as England, France, and Holland.  To man these tasks, the importation of slaves to America became an important consideration as well.

Actually England had a slight overpopulation problem (well in terms of employment there was a surplus of laborers) so taking a chance in the colonies was a risk worth taking because of the opportunity to rise out of poverty.

So economically, what would have followed was a decrease in laborers in England and a corresponding increase in wages (and cost of goods/services).  At least, in theory that holds true if enough laborers left for America.  Not sure if anyone has confirmed this, though.