The Cantino planisphere was developed by a Portuguese cartographer in 1502; it details the world the Europeans were aware of after they explored the Americas, Africa, and India at the end of the fifteenth century and beginning of the sixteenth century

In this topic, you explored the impacts of the expansion of European trade and exploration in Africa and the Americas, which resulted from a need to discover a way to reach Asia using an all water route around Africa’s coast or through a Northwest Passage. Led by the initial efforts of Prince Henry the Navigator, Europeans expanded into Africa. Unfortunately, the presence of Europeans resulted in economic damage, forced conversion to Christianity, and prompted inhumane slave trade. European expansion into the Americas, spearheaded by explorers like Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and Hernán Cortés, exposed Europeans to the lands of Hispaniola, Mexico, Peru, and modern-day Canada and New England. This Age of Discovery caused the largest cultural and material diffusion in human history, called the Columbian Exchange. It also resulted in the spread of diseases and slavery.

This time period is still reflected in today's communities. For example, some African communities speak Portuguese, Arabic, and their native tongues. In addition, many South American and Caribbean nations claim Spanish as their language, and continue to bear the names given to them by Spanish explorers in the 1400s and 1500s. Even as an American, you can feel the impact of the slave trade.