Under Mercantilism, European powers strove to get colonies in order to gain a favorable balance of trade with competing nations.
Mercantilism was the main driver for early European colonial exploration because they wanted to gain the resources that these colonies had.
This would give them a favorable balance of trade because more resources would be coming into the country than going out and would make them richer than competing nations.
Find out more on mercantilism at https://brainly.com/question/11353357.
#SPJ1