How did Europe go from a regional power to the center of a global economic system?

In this episode of AP Euro in 15, Mr. Bruns explores how European exploration and colonial expansion reshaped the world between 1450 and 1648. Mr. Bruns examines how Portugal pioneered early global trade networks across Africa, Asia, and South America, and how other European states soon joined the race for overseas wealth and influence.

You’ll learn how colonial expansion created a new system of global trade, helped shift Europe’s economic power from the Mediterranean to Atlantic port cities like London, Bristol, Amsterdam, and Antwerp, and contributed to the expansion of the transatlantic slave trade.

Then we dive into one of the most important global transformations in history—the Columbian Exchange—and explore how the movement of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Old World and New World reshaped ecosystems, economies, and populations on multiple continents.

Mr. Bruns tackles the big historical question: Who benefited the most from the Columbian Exchange—Europe or Indigenous peoples of the Americas?

Perfect for AP European History students reviewing Age of Exploration and early modern global connections.