New World silver led to fragmentation and economic disruption, but also to prosperity, especially in China, the Islamic empires, and Europe. New wealth greatly impacted cultural development and the spread of knowledge. As a result, the old empire cultures began to compete with new European cultural forms.

Trade and Culture

Culture flourished in China, the Islamic world, and in Europe, validating each as major world civilizations. Elsewhere, cultures borrowed heavily or found their traditions undermined by encroachment from larger cultures. Mixing and adapting became commonplace as cultures encountered each other. European cultural curiosity produced much of this contact. By the late 1700s, voyages for wealth were accompanied by voyages for knowledge of a world waiting to be cataloged, dissected, and understood. The accumulation of data led to the belief that all nature could be understood and that principles derived from it had universal applicability. Expanding long-distance trade may have helped unify the world, but culture still derived from local traditions and political needs.

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