Capitalism and socialism first came into use in the 1830s. Capitalism described an economic system in which wealth (or capital, another word for wealth) was owned by individuals for their personal profit. The British policy of government regulation of trade called mercantilism was being abandoned by the 1830s, and the free market (not the government) determined the production and distribution of goods. The word capitalism was a product of the changing economy of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution.
