Answer: During the three centuries covered in this chapter, profound changes occurred on the European continent.
These changes affected life on all levels: the way people viewed themselves (their past, their present, and
their future potential), the way governments viewed their authority, the way religion intersected with
politics and individuality, and the way Europeans thought about and interacted with the rest of the world.
By the end of these 300 years, the European countries will have used their new technologies, new ideas of
governing, and new forms economic organization to become the dominant world powers. Much of their
success was based on competition and rivalry as they raced to secure faster trade routes, new colonial
possessions, and attempted to gain control of key resources. And much of their success came at the
expense of the land-based empires of Asia and the declining empires in the Americas.
So while the previous chapter was all about interactions, this one covers the period of European maritime
empire-building that resulted from those initial interactions across Asia and the Indian Ocean As you review
the enormous developments in Parts A and B below, think about how they were linked together and
impacted each other.