What was a major outcome of the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries?

The discovery of North and South America was a major outcome of the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries due to the significant impact it had on global history. Explorers like Christopher Columbus, who sailed in 1492, opened the Americas to European exploration and conquest. This led to the establishment of European colonies, the exchange of goods, cultures, and ideas, known as the Columbian Exchange, and eventually significant changes in demographics and economies across both the Old World and the New World.

The Age of Exploration fundamentally altered the course of history by initiating contact between previously isolated continents. It facilitated the migration of Europeans to the Americas, the transatlantic slave trade, and the exchange of agricultural products and resources that reshaped diets and economies worldwide. This discovery not only transformed the social and political landscape of Europe but also had profound consequences for the indigenous populations of the Americas, including significant cultural exchange and, tragically, the spread of diseases that devastated native communities.

In contrast, the establishment of trade with Egypt, unification of Europe, and development of maritime laws, while related to exploration, did not carry the same level of impact on a global scale as the discovery of the Americas.