Disease had a huge effect on the life of the Native Americans. Disease was just as much a part in the exchange as food and goods. Millions of Native Americans died.
An early example of a Joint-Stock Company would be 1500-1600s during the American colonization period. People would send large amounts of money overseas to build colonies, and they would share their profit.
Mercantilism: an economic policy under which nations sought out to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods then they bought.