It also ended the dominance of agriculture and initiated significant social change. ; New food, plants, and animals were exchanged … ... (greater status for merchants). ; Massive wealth accrued to European colonizers due to trade in goods, spices, and precious metals. 3. ... How did the Roman republic become more democratic over time. Because of them, cultures divided by 3,000 miles or more of water began interacting. Most Americans would probably say The Declaration of Independence. Whereas the people in simple societies have close daily ties, in modern societies we have many relationships where we barely know the person. Europeans started exploring because they wanted spices, wealth, gold, expand trade routes and change of religion. How did the economics of the commercial revolution affect European society. In contrast, modern society is more individualistic and impersonal. The everyday work environment also changed drastically, and the West became an urban civilization. Society ChangesThe changes brought about by the Commercial Revolution were slow, yet they had a major effect on the lives of Europeans. The fief overshadowed fealty, the benefice became more important than vassalage, and freemen began to swear allegiance to the highest bidder only. Humanity is more important than money. ; Methods of navigation and mapping improved, switching from traditional portolan charts to the world's first nautical maps. As you can see in the diagram, increased trade brought many changes to aspects of society. Commitment to the group and community become less important in modern societies, and individualism becomes more important. There was also a population explosion due to the increased wealth. At the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade era, the British government did not allow rich individuals to try to make profits from the trade. Markets exist to serve our common goals and values. As nations competed for territory, Europe had an enormous impact on people living in distant lands. European countries claimed large parts of the world. Royal Africa Company monopoly. D amning statistic follows damning statistic on wealth inequality. The unit of an economy is each person, not each dollar. So the transatlantic slave trade and plantation wealth were the major causes of the growth of capitalism in Europe. Two of the most important changes involved what people did to earn a living and where they lived. These men were willing to risk there lives in order to get spices and gain wealth. The Social Impact of the Industrial RevolutionOverviewThe Industrial Revolution increased the material wealth of the Western world. Explorers learned more about areas such as Africa and the Americas and brought that knowledge back to Europe. The reason European countries wanted more colonies was that colonies helped countries accumulate wealth and power. 2. Why did the Europeans explore the world? What was the most important document published in 1776? In business, there’s a saying that “what gets measured gets managed for,” so we need to start measuring different things. It increased the wealth of the European nations, though there were still many poor people. 1. It was used to pay for the industrialisation of Europe. The Americas, in turn, made important contributions to Europe and the rest of the world.