ABSTRACT
The growth of long-distance trade and changing consumption patterns were two major economic trends that influenced all European societies at the end of the early modern period. Although the trends had already started in the sixteenth century, they accelerated and became more visible to an increasing number of persons during the eighteenth century. Ships brought products like sugar, tea and textiles from one part of the world to another in order to meet the demands of people who were changing their material habits. These two interconnected trends created ties between continents and regions and transformed economic, political and social conditions in all corners of the globe.1
