Maritime Empires Develop

Maritime (sea-based) empires transformed commerce from local, small-

scale trading, mostly based on barter, to large-scale international trade using gold and silver. These empires employed new economic models, such as joint- stock companies, through which investors financed trade by buying shares in corporations such as the East India Company, supporting increased trade in Asia. New ocean trade routes were opened, aiding the rise of this extended global economy. The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of labor—including enslaved people—and the mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples, with all groups contributing to a cultural synthesis. Silver, sugar, and slavery were the keys to the development of these mercantilist empires.