There was a lot of forces the were big in this time period like empires and commerce  between 1450 and 1750. The slave trade was a big part of this also. There was very big commerce in the indian ocean because you could travel almost any were you wanted. This made some people very rich and wealthy.  Something I found very interesting was the African Americans were not the first slaves. It was slavic people who were first. Back then slavery was as bad as owning a pet which for some can be pretty bad depending on the owner.