The economic activities of the english colonies during the late-17th and early-18th centuries could best be described as

Mercantilism.

Explanation: The economic activities of the English colonies at the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries could be described BETTER as Mercantilism, since it was the main system of said economy and that it was based mainly on the exploitation of precious metals, which according to the appreciation of the that developed this activity, were the economic strength of a State or Nation since through mining, economic development presented a great boom and large dividends could be generated through trade and export of gold and silver.

i think they came to washington to protest