The Age of Exploration, and the colonization that followed it, have shaped contemporary society in countless ways, all of which resulted in major cultural exchanges and monumental discoveries. Whether it be its influence on religion, colonization, government, or trade, the Age of Exploration has affected the entire world and has had a significant impact on geography. During this time period, European explorers and conquistadors colonized the Americas, the Transatlantic Slave Trade was established, and Portugal advanced trade by discovering a direct route to Asia. Essentially, Europeans, Africans, Asians, and Americans were notably impacted by the Age of Exploration because it allowed for the expansion of trade and trade routes, led to the mass …show more content…
Moreover, during the 1500s, spices were highly valued because of their scarcity and usefulness. The Portuguese (led by Vasco de Gama) were the first Europeans to discover a direct sea route to Southeast Asia via the Cape of Good Hope, thus enabling them to bring spices directly from India to Europe (Document 4). Shortly after, the English, French, and Dutch discovered the sea route to Asia and gained monopoly over the spice trade by colonizing Southeast Asia. Although trade and colonization had a significant impact on Asia, they also had a monumental impact on Africans. In the 1500s, Europeans began trading slaves on a large scale, as they were sold to work on large plantations in the New World. Furthermore, these slaves were transported on a “slave ship” which tightly held 562 slaves and were infiltrated with life-threatening diseases (Document 7). While aboard the ship, the slaves were branded with their owner’s mark and were crammed so tightly into the ship that they couldn’t even slightly change their position (Documents 7 & 8). Since European ports facilitated goods entering by sea, slaves were traded in these crowded ports and were then taken to the New World (Document 6). The slave trade not only had an impact on Africa as it caused small African states to disappear and new powerful kingdoms to arrive, but also affected the economic development of the New World and introduced debilitating diseases there as