"the history of european empire building and trade in the early modern period is essentially the history of exploitation in pursuit of wealth and luxury goods." is this statement a fair assessment of the period?

Africans were exploited which earned huge profits for the European countries. Europe became a strong power with the foundation which is strongly laid by the African people.

Explanation:

The Atlantic slave trade enabled the Europeans to procure slaves from Africa who were employed in tobacco plantations and mines. Able bodies and physically fit young people of Africa were taken away as slaves.  

Not only slave trade but also the internal civil wars that took place in Africa were indeed a weakness which made the European colonies take advantage of the country. Unstable political climate made Africans to go as slaves to other countries. Not only human resource but also other precious natural resource like gold and silver were also taken control of by the colonial government.  

question - in 1827, john walker, a druggist in a small english town, tipped a splint with sulphur, chlorate of potash, and sulphid of antimony, and rubbed it on sandpaper, and it burst into flame. the druggist had discovered the first friction-chemical match, the kind we use to-day. it is called friction-chemical because it is made by mixing certain chemicals together and rubbing them. although walker's match did not require the bottle of acid, nevertheless it was not a good one. it could be lighted only by hard rubbing, and it sputtered and threw fire in all directions. in a few years, however, phosphorus was substituted on the tip for antimony, and the change worked wonders. the match could now be lighted with very little rubbing, and it was no longer necessary to have sandpaper upon which to rub it. it would ignite when rubbed on any dry surface, and there was no longer any sputtering. this was the phosphorus match, the match with which we are so familiar. according the paragraph what was the benefit of the new phosphorus match? it burst into flame when rubbed on sandpaper. it was made by mixing chemicals. it could be ignited on any dry surface. it threw fire in all directions.

answer - matches required natural chemicals