1492
Columbus's First Transatlantic Voyage
In 1492, Christopher Columbus led a Spanish-sponsored expedition across the Atlantic, making landfall in the Caribbean while searching for …
The Full Timeline of Trade
Over a hundred events spanning early exchange networks to today's global logistics. Combine filters, search, and switch between chronological and card views.
Maritime Expansion
1492
Columbus's First Transatlantic Voyage
In 1492, Christopher Columbus led a Spanish-sponsored expedition across the Atlantic, making landfall in the Caribbean while searching for a westward route to Asia. The voyage ope…
1498
Vasco da Gama Reaches India
Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at Calicut on India's Malabar Coast in 1498, establishing the first known direct sea route from Wester…
c. 1500s
The Columbian Exchange Accelerates
Following sustained contact between the Americas and the rest of the world, crops, animals, people, and diseases began moving across the Atlantic in large volumes. Maize, potatoes…
1511
Portugal Seizes the Malacca Sultanate
In 1511, Portuguese forces under Afonso de Albuquerque captured the port city of Malacca, a major Southeast Asian hub that had controlled trade through the Malacca Strait for roug…
1519-1522
Magellan-Elcano Expedition Circles the Globe
A Spanish-funded fleet under Ferdinand Magellan departed in 1519 seeking a westward route to the Spice Islands, crossing the Pacific and reaching the Moluccas before the surviving…
1545
Silver Production Begins at Potosi
Spanish colonists began large-scale silver extraction at Potosi in the Andes in 1545, tapping one of the richest silver deposits known at the time. Production relied heavily on co…
1565
The Manila Galleon Trade Links Asia and the Americas
Beginning in 1565, Spanish galleons established a regular trade route across the Pacific between Manila and Acapulco, carrying Mexican and Peruvian silver west in exchange for Chi…
1600
The English East India Company Is Chartered
Queen Elizabeth I granted a royal charter in 1600 to a group of London merchants, forming the English East India Company and giving it a monopoly over English trade with Asia. The…
1602
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) Is Founded
In 1602, the Dutch States General chartered the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC, merging several competing Dutch trading ventures into a single company with a monopoly o…
c. 1610s-1630s
Amsterdam Emerges as a Global Financial and Trade Hub
During the early seventeenth century, Amsterdam developed into Europe's leading center for commodity trade and finance, supported by the founding of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange a…
1623
Dutch Forces Tighten Control Over the Spice Islands
In 1623, Dutch VOC authorities on the island of Ambon executed a group of English, Japanese, and Portuguese-allied men after accusing them of conspiracy, an episode known as the A…
c. 1640s-1700
Sugar Plantations Expand Across the Atlantic World
From the mid-seventeenth century, sugar cultivation expanded rapidly across Brazil and the Caribbean, driven by rising European demand and organized around large plantations that …
1651
England's Navigation Acts Codify Mercantilist Policy
The English Parliament passed the first Navigation Act in 1651, requiring that goods imported into England or its colonies be carried on English ships, largely aimed at undercutti…
c. 1610-1660s
Tea Enters European Trade Networks
Dutch traders brought the first recorded shipments of Chinese tea to Europe around 1610, with the English East India Company beginning regular tea imports by the mid-seventeenth c…
c. 1500s-1800
The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Triangular Trade System
Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, European traders and African intermediaries forcibly transported an estimated 12 million or more enslaved Africans across the Atlan…
c. 1700s
Atlantic and Indian Ocean Port Cities Grow as Trade Hubs
Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, port cities on multiple continents expanded rapidly as hubs for maritime trade, including slaving voyages, colonial commodities, …
1498
Vasco da Gama Reaches India
Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at Calicut on India's Malabar Coast in 1498, establishing the …
c. 1500s
The Columbian Exchange Accelerates
Following sustained contact between the Americas and the rest of the world, crops, animals, people, and diseases began moving across the At…
1511
Portugal Seizes the Malacca Sultanate
In 1511, Portuguese forces under Afonso de Albuquerque captured the port city of Malacca, a major Southeast Asian hub that had controlled t…
1519-1522
Magellan-Elcano Expedition Circles the Globe
A Spanish-funded fleet under Ferdinand Magellan departed in 1519 seeking a westward route to the Spice Islands, crossing the Pacific and re…
1545
Silver Production Begins at Potosi
Spanish colonists began large-scale silver extraction at Potosi in the Andes in 1545, tapping one of the richest silver deposits known at t…
1565
The Manila Galleon Trade Links Asia and the Americas
Beginning in 1565, Spanish galleons established a regular trade route across the Pacific between Manila and Acapulco, carrying Mexican and …
1600
The English East India Company Is Chartered
Queen Elizabeth I granted a royal charter in 1600 to a group of London merchants, forming the English East India Company and giving it a mo…
1602
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) Is Founded
In 1602, the Dutch States General chartered the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC, merging several competing Dutch trading ventures…
c. 1610s-1630s
Amsterdam Emerges as a Global Financial and Trade Hub
During the early seventeenth century, Amsterdam developed into Europe's leading center for commodity trade and finance, supported by the fo…
1623
Dutch Forces Tighten Control Over the Spice Islands
In 1623, Dutch VOC authorities on the island of Ambon executed a group of English, Japanese, and Portuguese-allied men after accusing them …
c. 1640s-1700
Sugar Plantations Expand Across the Atlantic World
From the mid-seventeenth century, sugar cultivation expanded rapidly across Brazil and the Caribbean, driven by rising European demand and …
1651
England's Navigation Acts Codify Mercantilist Policy
The English Parliament passed the first Navigation Act in 1651, requiring that goods imported into England or its colonies be carried on En…
c. 1610-1660s
Tea Enters European Trade Networks
Dutch traders brought the first recorded shipments of Chinese tea to Europe around 1610, with the English East India Company beginning regu…
c. 1500s-1800
The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Triangular Trade System
Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, European traders and African intermediaries forcibly transported an estimated 12 million or…
c. 1700s
Atlantic and Indian Ocean Port Cities Grow as Trade Hubs
Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, port cities on multiple continents expanded rapidly as hubs for maritime trade, including…