Wealth pure and simple. Slaves were the first "Black Gold" long before the discovery of a use for petroleum. The demand for slaves in the Americas, could make a handy profit. When they found out they could also turn a profit delivering sugar and rum to Europe, their profits doubled. By picking up trade good and Iron in Europe for delivery to Africa their profits trebeled. Two circuits and a crewman could buy a pub with his share and the Captain could buy a country home and retire for life.
Japan I think just guessing because of there leader
Land. Lots of land.
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 intensified American migration to the west that was already well underway. Anglo-American settlement in the 18th century had largely been confined to the eastern seaboard. It made its boldest inroads where rivers allowed easy internal transportation. As a result the chief population centers of early North America were clustered on the coast or along its major inland waterways.
The legacy of the Rome roman empire is the set of cultural values, religious beliefs, and the technological and other achievements of ancient Rome that were passed on after the demise of the empire itself and continued to shape other civilizations, a process which continues to this day.
