Overview

European exploration of the New World ushered in the transformation of the political, economic, academic, and social systems that had predominated in late medieval Europe. Mercantilism, an economic philosophy that emphasized the need for massive gold reserves and promoted trade, became the dominant economic theory of many Western European nations. The increased perception of a need for gold bullion forced England, France, Spain, Holland, Portugal, and other nations into intense rivalries for dominion over the seas and land in the New World. Also, these nations all sought ways in which to expedite and gain monopolies over trade with the nations of the Far East. The competition for wealth to stock national coffers—both in terms of plunder and trade goods—revolutionized European business. Corporations were founded to subsidize colonial and trade ventures, banks...