Dutch East Indies Co, Hudson Bay Co, Royal Africa Co,...
Colonies, charter companies, and slavery, not small gvt, made Europe wealthy
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European markets after the sixteenth century were swamped with a
bewildering array of hitherto rare or unknown goods. New American foods
included potatoes, maize (Indian corn), peanuts, tomatoes, and fish from
Newfoundland's Grand Banks. In an era without refrigeration imported spices,
such as pepper, cloves, and cinnamon, made spoiled foods palatable. Sugar
became a common substitute for honey, and cocoa, the Aztec sacred beverage,
spread throughout Europe. Coffee and tea, from the New World and Asia, soon
produced new social habits throughout Europe. North American furs, Chinese
silks, and cottons from India and Mexico revolutionized clothing fashion.
Luxury furnishings, using rare woods, ivory, and Oriental carpets appeared
more frequently in homes of the wealthy. The use of American tobacco became
almost a mania among all classes and contributed further to the booming
European market.
Imported gold and, more significantly, silver probably affected the
European economy more than all other foreign goods. After the Spaniards looted
Aztec and Inca treasure rooms, the gold flowing from America and Africa
subsided to a trickle, but seven million tons of silver poured into Europe
before 1660. Spanish prices quadrupled and, because most of the silver went to
pay for imports, prices in northern Europe more than tripled. The influx of
bullion and the resulting inflation hurt landlords depending on fixed rents
and creditors who were paid in cheap money, but the bullion bonanza ended a
centuries-long gold drain to the East, with its attendant money shortage. It
also increased the profits of merchants selling on a rising market, thus
greatly stimulating north European capitalism.
history-world.org
The forced flow of people and material from Africa resulted in great wealth in Europe. The profits gained from the transatlantic slave trade and then later from the exploitation of Africa by taking direct control over the land (colonialism) were used to develop the West.
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