He proposed legislation to end lynching and the poll tax, and played a big role in desegregating the armed forces.
It revolutionized the maritime industry by allowing faster travel that could now be controlled without being reliant on wind currents. Along with it being faster, you could now transport goods on larger ships through smaller bodies of water like rivers.
Venice and Florence emerged as key centers of trade in the Mediterranean, based on the trade of silk, cotton, wool and spices. The Italian city-states were the bridge between the Byzantine Empire, Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
