What was life like in colonial territories beyond palaces, conquerors, and famous battles? This chapter explores the cities, farms, trade routes, and communities that developed under European rule. It examines forced labor, slavery, social hierarchies, religious influence, and the resistance of Indigenous and African peoples. It also shows how foods, languages, knowledge, and traditions became intertwined without ignoring the violence that accompanied those exchanges. A journey through a diverse and deeply contradictory period whose economic, cultural, and social structures continue to influence many societies today.