Before discussing trade and early modern Europe, I think we need to make the connection to capitalism. Economists claimed that it was the transformation of the European economy through investment in new large-scale trade and production processes and called this the rise of capitalism (Weisner-Hanks, 203).” Trade was believed to be at the heart of the development of the modern world. Adam Smith, in Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, identified the natural instinct of people to trade with one another. This led to a specialization of work starting with individuals and then expanding to groups, regions, and finally nations with an emphasis on products and tasks completed faster and better than their neighbors (Weisner-Hanks, 203). Smith believed that “the highest level of development, production and innovation, the greatest wealth of nations, would be best achieved by allowing free trade and open competition in both products and labor, an economic system later called capitalism” (Weisner-Hanks, 203). ). The development of capitalism during this period was considered slow and complicated, but changes in the production of goods, the way goods were bought and sold, increased population growth, and money management drove the European economy ( Weisner-Hanks 204). All these factors played an important role in the growth of the European economy and therefore of capitalism. Europe's economic growth after 1500 was the result of countries with access to the Atlantic establishing trade routes with the New World, Africa, and Asia. It was the growth of trade within these countries that created institutional change and allowed merchant groups to obtain protective rights (Acemoglu, Johnson and... middle of paper... during this time period. Works Cited Acemoglu , Daron, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. "The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change, and Economic Growth" 95.3 (2005): Print. Antunes, Catia. Early Modern Europe Migration. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, nd Web. 2 April 2014..De Vries, January. “The Limits of Globalization in the Early Modern Period.” The Economic History Review 63.3 (2010): 710 -33. “The Role of Trade and Empire in European Economic Development to About 1870” in Dartmouth/University of Massachusetts, 2013.Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. “Economy and Technology, 1450-1600.” Early Modern Europe, 1450- 1789 Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. 200-35.