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How did European overseas expansion change after the voyages around Africa and to the Americas?

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Map of North America in 1763 using color coding to show colonial territories: the 13 American colonies in red along the Atlantic coast, other British territory in orange across much of present-day Canada, Spanish territory in purple covering most of the southern and western regions, Russian territory in green in the northwest, and large areas of unclaimed land in white. Major bodies of water such as the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay are labeled. — Western colonialism North America during the colonial period.

Following the voyages around Africa and to the Americas, European overseas expansion shifted the center of sea power from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, empowering emerging nation-states like Portugal, Spain, the Dutch Republic, France, and England.1

Initially, this expansion was characterized by:
* Strategic Control: Nations established trading posts, forts, and coastal settlements to secure trade routes and extract resources, such as precious metals and tropical products.23
* Mercantilism: European powers operated under mercantilist policies, viewing colonies as economic tools to enrich the mother country by providing raw materials and serving as exclusive markets for finished goods.45
* Division of Influence: Powers like Spain and Portugal utilized agreements such as the Treaty of Tordesillas to divide global spheres of influence.63
* Labor Systems: Early colonization relied heavily on the exploitation of Indigenous labor and the transatlantic trade in enslaved people to support plantation and pastoral economies.73

This era laid the foundation for the spread of European institutions and culture, setting the stage for later, more intensive continental expansion driven by the Industrial Revolution.21