The Atlantic World had many economic and social changes and continuities as a result of Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas interacting from 1492 through 1750. The connection between the Europeans, Africans and the newly discovered land of the Americas greatly affected the Atlantic World. A continuity involves the constant trading with the many parts of the world throughout this period.
The arrival of the Europeans changed the Atlantic World such that there were massive trading routes being established from the Americas across the Atlantic World to the Europeans and the Africans. Before 1492, Europe was in a state of desperate needs for power. However, the western Africans and the Americans had almost no part in global trading. The European’s wealth had diminished due to the fact that the Asians wanted nothing from the Europeans and the Ottomans taxed Asian goods from the Silk Road, making it a bad bargain for the Europeans to trade for the Asian goods. This caused the Europeans to be forced to the west. Christopher Columbus led one of these expeditions to the west. He sailed and reached the New World and reported back to the King and Queen of Spain. This news caused the Europeans to travel in great numbers to the newly discovered world and established colonies. The Portuguese, after sailing back from the Indian Ocean region, encountered the coast of western Africa and learned of their use of African slaves. This sparked the beginning of the slave trade, also known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade, later developed into the Triangular Trade. The Europeans, after arriving to the Americas, found suitable areas where they can grow sugar, tobacco, and other cash crops. However, these crops required killing labor, which is a form of labor where the work to tend to these crops would be very harsh. Since no one wanted to work, the Europeans involved slavery. At first, they used Native Americans, but they soon learned that the natives were not well suited for the...