In the sixteenth century, transoceanic connections linked continents as the first truly global economy began to emerge and transform the world.

Land-based empires controlled vast regions of Afro-Eurasia from 1450 to 1750. The empires in this lesson used a variety of strategies to rule over diverse peoples. How did they ensure that their subjects obeyed the empire’s rules?

Though Europeans had traveled by sea to the Americas centuries earlier, during this period their reach expanded into maritime empires. In this lesson, we will explore the beginnings of the European empires that cemented transoceanic connections.

The arrival of Europeans in the Americas brought grim tidings for Indigenous populations. The European invasion killed tens of millions of people through war and disease. Indigenous people resisted colonization in every region of the Americas.

After 1492, oceanic empires and transoceanic trade moved plants, animals, people, and disease to new places. This exchange transformed populations, food, culture, and social structures in every society on Earth.

For 400 years, over 12 million people were enslaved and forcibly transported to the Americas, where they worked in horrific conditions. Their labor enriched European empires and settler colonies.

Slavery was not a new idea, but the plantation system that flourished in the Americas during this period was. This system made some people very wealthy, and it empowered empires and merchants at the expense of millions of lives.

Migration is fundamental to human history. During this period, waves of people spread to new shores. Many moved seeking the opportunity for new connections, while millions of others were forced from their homes.

Oceanic empires and capitalism emerged together, and they each supported the other. Learn how the emergence of the first global economy depended on and reinforced the rule of European empires.