Unit 4 shifts our focus to the sea, exploring the dramatic transformation of global networks of exchange through transoceanic voyages. This period marks a profound turning point, as new connections between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres led to the first truly global trading systems. You'll examine how European states, driven by political, religious, and economic rivalries, leveraged technological innovations to establish new maritime empires. This era fundamentally reshaped global trade, demographics, labor systems, and social hierarchies - a process with immediate and lasting consequences for the world.