Geography knowledge

1. Broadened people's vision and improved their understanding of the world's landscape, physical features, and cultures.
2. Improvements in navigation and nautical science knowledge allowed people to learn more about the world's geography.
3. The successful rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Da Gama removed a mental and physical obstacle to the voyages, allowing people to learn more about the geography of Africa, India, and China.
4. The Europeans' arrival in the East improved their knowledge of Asia.
5. Magellan's voyages defeated the flat-earthers and removed the threat of falling off the Earth into space.

Cultural exchange

1. Histories
2. Languages
3. Customs
4. Cultures

World trade

The development of world trade after the Renaissance was due to several factors

1. New sea routes were opened up, such as Da Gama's rounding of the Cape of Good Hope.
2. New trading ports were established, such as Calicut and Goa in India, Malacca, and Macau in China.
3. Companies were set up to manage and operate trade. For example, Britain's East India Company, traded in tea with American colonists, leading to the American Revolution of 1787, and in opium with the Chinese, leading to the Opium War of 1839-42.
4. Trading partners were established in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Brazil for Portugal and Australia for Britain.

Expansion of Europeans in Asia, Africa

1. Slave trade (★★★)

   Europeans used their military power to control African natives and legalize black slaves as goods that could be sold and bought without moral concerns.

   In the triangular slave trade, Europeans sold black slaves to Europe and America by force. Slaves often faced separation from families and decided to escape on cargo boats, some drowning in the process. And those who escaped after arrival faced their masters' guns for their disobedience.

   Even Enlightenment thinker John Locke, who championed human rights and liberty, was involved in the slave trade, which was sarcastic.

   American colonists and French revolutionaries used Locke's ideas of human rights and social contract to justify their rebellion and overthrow their rulers. However, the hypocrisy of individuals like Locke and countries like the United States damages our appreciation of these ideas.