'The discovery of America and that of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two (2) greatest events recorded in the

'The discovery of America and that of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two (2) greatest events recorded in the history of [human] kind" - Adam Smith, in the Wealth of Nations,1776. Think about why he and many other notables supported this statement, especially the discovery of America. What was so important about this New World across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe?