As immense wealth was generated through the labour of the exploited masses (which involved the development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade) a privileged middle-class developed – particularly after the English Civil Wars of the 1640s. This development saw the successful transference of the control of the ‘means of production’ (and political power) from the Aristocracy (the upper-class) to the Bourgeoisie (the middle-class) and with it the unleashing of tremendous creative force (a process magnified enormously by the ‘discovery’ of the Americas and the effective stealing of immense tracts of ‘free’ land and other resources)! Of course, the spread of British power and influence throughout other countries of the world – including Africa and Asia – opened all kinds of diverse markets which spread commodities to the four corners of the earth!