>What were the motives behind European overseas expansion, and what were the consequences for Europe, the Americas, and Africa? Chapter 14 examines European overseas expansion in the early modern era. Before 1450, Europeans were relatively marginal players in a centuries-old trading system that linked Africa, Asia, and Europe. Europeans’ search for better access to Asian trade led to a new empire in the Indian Ocean and the accidental discovery of the Western Hemisphere. Within a few decades, European colonies in South and North America would join this worldwide web of commerce. Capitalizing on the goods and riches they found in the Americas, Europeans came to dominate trading networks and built political empires of truly global proportions. The era of globalization had begun, bringing with it new forms of cultural exchange, assimilation, conversion, and resistance.