I would argue that it was much bigger at that time. How many days of sailing would it take to cross the ocean? How undeveloped was the entirety of what we now have as the US?

Edit: I'm a fool and read the parent completely incorrectly. Ignore this comment.

That is the parent's meaning.

Thanks, I read it wrongly.

If the world is smaller today then it means it was bigger at that time. What are you confused about?

Thanks for pointing this out, I misread the parent comment.