During the 16th and 17th centuries, the trade networks of Afro-Eurasia expanded into a truly global economy, where once isolated civilizations were now actively involved in global relations. Expeditions, expansion, conquest, and colonization, specifically by Western Europe, brought the Americas, Atlantic islands, and West Indies into the world network for the first time. Not only did this surge bring new crops, animals, and products into the trade network, it also created new economic techniques, like slaveholding. The period also saw once economically powerful nations lag behind, as Western Europe became a dominant force after a major shift in power. The economy of the 16th and 17th centuries differed from the previous trade networks because …show more content…
Not only did these lands allow the production of familiar goods, they also introduced exchange, like the Columbian Exchange, where new crops, animals, culture, and disease were transferred between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia. Equally important was the theme of colonization and exploration; many countries, especially the ones of Western Europe, set sail to find new lands to conquer or colonize. They even set up enclaves in areas where strong control was unobtainable and established trading companies, like the Dutch East India Company. This theme led to the end of the America’s isolation and established a system of international inequality, where many areas depended on economically strong nations who made profits through their control. One last noticable difference of the world economy of the 16th and 17th centuries was the profit-making techniques; the new land allowed the expansion of the production of cash crops, which led to increased slaveholding and ultimately the slave trade, which provided unfree