The demand for exploration led to new technological innovations like Astronomical Charts & map making. But it was especially new ships like the caravel, carrack, & Dutch fluyt that led to their advanced maritime exploration. European population was increasing, thus leading to higher demand for resources. However, there was a business opportunity in the search for resources. The states with the most access to trade could be the most powerful. By 1492, states began to seriously invest in exploration and trade like the Spanish crown who hired an Italian named Christopher Columbus to find a western passage to India.

Trade between Europe & Asia had diminished since the Ottomans controlled Constantinople [Istanbul] forcing the the Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, and Dutch had to find another route in order to remain competitive, so they invested in exploration. Europeans were primarily motivated by money (spices, gold, and silver), religion (spreading Catholicism), conquest (formation of colonies). If they could find a quicker route to Asia, profits would balloon and religious ideologies could easily spread. It started with the Portuguese, who started European trade with Sub-Saharan Africa ,China, India, Indonesia, but didn’t last long. However, once the Spanish make contact with the Americas the French, English, and Dutch followed along with great wealth. This will lead states to practice mercantilism, which maximized exports and limited imports which raises great wealth but causes immeasurable harm to indigenous communities in the New & Old World.

As Europeans explored and colonized Africa and Asia, they set up trading post cities to establish a base. These cities became centers of imperial administrations later on. In West Africa, European merchants & missionaries reached inland to Kongo and Benin to kickstart the slave trade; while in Japan, which initially welcomed the Portuguese & Dutch, but in 1637 shut all of Europe out by adopting a policy of isolationism. China, after the the exploration of Zheng He, was in the same self-isolating mode. Meanwhile, in India, the British & Dutch East India Company were established. And in the Americas--the New World--the Spanish and Portuguese divided up the lands of the Americas before they even explored or conquered any of it. In 1494, they signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which gave Brazil to the Portuguese and everywhere else to the Spanish. All the while, the Spanish conquistadors crushed the thriving Aztec & Inca empires within a few decades. In May, 1521, the Aztecs fell first when Hernan Cortes & his troops brought horses & diseases. And in 1532, another Spaniard, Francisco Pizarro, dismantled the Incas just as swiftly. Shortly afterwards, the British & French began their aggressive colonization & elimination of the native North Americans. The British and the French had to wage a 7 year battle so that England could established 13 colonies while the French settled with Canada. Finally, each empire used a specific labor system to help facilitate their wealth (look at graphic on the left).

Mercantilist policies maximized exports and minimized imports so a state could have more silver and gold on hand and the European empires used these policies to force colonies to only import goods from their colonizer, or 'mother country'. This policy led to innovations in finances, business, and banking. However, inflation, specifically caused by increased mining silver mining within Potosi Mountain by the Spanish, occurred when prices increased and more people and people went into debt. To try to avoid economic disaster, joint-stock companies were formed. he Dutch were high rollers in this time and played a main role in finance. They established a stock exchange and developed an international currency to facilitate trade. While some people got rich, many investors went bankrupt which had rippling effects on the economy. In the Atlantic, the consistent trade from Europe to Africa to the Americas and back to Europe was known as Triangular Trade. Europeans brought manufactured goods like guns to Africa, picked up slaves to bring to the Americas, then filled up on cash crops to head back to Europe. While some African rulers were complicit in the slave trade, they all were all desirous of guns & wealth, which made local rivalries far more violent. All the while, most enslaved were men, which left a gender imbalance in favor of women which later made practices of polygamy were more common. Finally, new syncretic religions emerged that blended native and colonial traditions. Syncretisms happen everywhere, but in the Americas, there many more; such as Vodun (Voodoo) - West African spiritualism brought to Caribbean, and use of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico by newly converted indigenous Catholic.

As states expanded power, they were consistently met with resistance and rebellion. This is a constant in world history. People will always find a way to challenge state power, especially when survival is at stake. For example example Queen Nzinga resisted the Portuguese colonizers, or Serfs vs. Russian Central Government, or Indigenous Tribes vs. British Colonists (Metacom’s War), or even the English Protestants vs. English Catholics. Take a look at the list to your left for more details about resistance to authority.

The expansion of trade on a global scale expanded both the upper elite class and the lower labor class. Global trade was insanely profitable and new elite classes enjoyed this wealth. Meanwhile, the population of forced laborers increased, further expanding the wealth gap.
In the the 'Gunpowder empires' society was complex. The Ottoman empire, The Sultans ruled the top of the pyramid and had powers to grant rewards to favored groups, such as soldiers. The middle class included the military, scholars, and other bureaucratic groups. Within the military, the Janissaries gained power and tried to overthrow the Sultan. Women in the Ottoman Empire also experienced some expanded freedoms. Ottoman Empire also practiced a surprising amount of religious tolerance for Jews and Christians, although non-Muslims were forced to pay the jizya tax.
Meanwhile, the Mughal Empire under Akbar the Great was even more tolerant as they abolished the jizya tax and supported the expansion of Sikhism (blend of Hinduism and Islam).
The Qing dynasty was ruled by the Manchus, a minority group. This was yet another historical example of a minority group ruling a majority group (see: Mughals, colonialism). Although they adopted political traditions in China, the Qing were committed to making the Manchu culture dominant. For example, they forced all men to wear their hair in queues (braided pigtail style), which was a power move to test loyalty to the throne. The majority Han ethnicity faced the most intolerance from the Qing.
In European society was ruled by a royal family that gained enormous wealth from trade and corruption. Below the royals was a second class of the nobility, a small wealthy group that owned most of the land. Nobles had influence in Parliament, but no power over the royals. The commoners were the lowest class and often challenged the nobility.
In Russia, the social classes were similar to the rest of Europe, except that they continued to practice serfdom. The Russian nobility, known as Boyars, were wealthy landowners. Below them were the merchants. At the bottom was the largest class of peasants, many of whom sank into debt and were forced into serfdom. As serfs, they were completely tied to the land and sold when the land sold.