Columbus Chapter 1 Summary

The Columbian Exchange was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, ideas and technology between the eastern and western hemispheres. It began in the fifteenth century and lasted until the eighteenth. There were many economic geographic and social impacts of the Columbian Exchange. Without the Columbian Exchange society today would not be the same.

In result, the Europeans forever altered the lifestyle of the native peoples. The Exploration and Colonization greatly impacted the spread of disease in the new world. For example, (Doc 6). States “when the newcomers arrived carrying mumps, measles, whooping cough, smallpox, cholera, gonorrhea and yellow fever, the Indians were immunologically defenseless.”

The term “Columbian Exchange” refers to the massive transfer of life between the Afro-Eurasian and American hemispheres that was precipitated by Columbus’ voyage to the New World . It was known as the widespread interchange of plants, animals, diseases, culture, human populations and technology between Europe and the Americas. After Columbus’ arrival to the Americas, the plant, animal and bacterial life began to mix between the Americas, which was also referred to as the “New World” and Europe, which was also referred to as the “Old World”. But how did the Columbian Exchange influence the Americas? The Columbian exchange had a huge effect, biologically, culturally, and demographically.

The Columbian Exchange, derived from the voyages of Columbus to the Americas, was a chapter in history that connected the Old World to the New World by exchanging crops, culture, and technology. The Columbian Exchange in the Western Hemisphere resulted in extensive demographic, social, economic, and environmental changes. The arrival of Europeans to Native American land produced an intense mixture of culture and population fluctuation. Not only did this exchange affect the social aspect between the two nations, it changed the way people engaged in trade and proprietary interests, which would lead to a massive destruction and transformation of the environment.

The Columbian Exchange was one of the most significant periods in the World History. A huge movement of great numbers of animals and plants started after Columbus’s discovery of America in 1492. It was a double-sided exchange between the “New World” of the Americas and the “Old World” of the Afro-Eurasia. The opening of the routes between two “Worlds” distributed a wide range of new crops and livestock. According to many environmentalists, this biological expansion brought a lot of damage to different ecosystems. However, in general, The Columbian Exchange led to the growth of the population. Ships returned to Afro-Eurasia with the sunflowers, tomatoes, and pumpkins. The most considerable organisms, which were brought

Christopher Columbus is an internationally celebrated explorer, due to his voyages to Central America during the Age of Discovery, a period between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when explorers were sponsored by eastern countries to claim land. Columbus was an Italian explorer, on a conquest for gold and riches, who was sponsored by the monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, to travel to Southern Asia. Columbus proposed the idea of traveling from East to West, rather than traveling along the borders of countries and continents, such as Africa and Asia, to eastern countries for gold, spices, and other riches for the monarchs. When Columbus succeeded in landing in the New World, he believed he landed in Southern Asia, but rather he landed in Hispaniola, modern day Haiti and Dominican Republic. The “New World” was a term used for the area Columbus landed in, on October 12, 1492. When Columbus landed in the New World, it was inhabited by native people, who were used by the Spaniards to help navigate and understand the landscape of the islands and as workers to find gold. Columbus has a mixed legacy because he had positive and negative attributes; he made the Columbian Exchange, which increased biodiversity in the New World, and is an important explorer in American history, but also began the African slave trade and caused population devastation due to slavery and diseases in the native populations. The legacy of Christopher Columbus should be remembered as a villain because he was greedy for wealth and power, he introduced diseases to the New World, and enslaved and used violence against the natives.

The domesticated animals that the Europeans brought carried over diseases such as small pox and measles which ultimately decimated the Native American population along with numerous animals and thus harming the ecosystem. Furthermore, after numerous crops from the New World was introduced to the Old World, there came a rising demand for those crops. This eventually led colonists to mass produce these crops in hopes of selling them for extra money. Excessive farming eventually led to deforestation for farm land along with depletion of the nutrients in American soil (Nun 174). Soil depletion then resulted in poor farming which followed starvation of the colonists and the destruction of American land. This early example shows the dangers of deforestation and poor soil that people still risk today by harming the

The arrival of Columbus lead to the decline of the Arawaks because of many factors. Columbus took advantage of the Arawaks’ land, resources, and people. As Zinn mentioned, the Arawaks lived in Bahama Island (which Columbus arrived on) and they were known to be very kind and generous. The Arawaks had great agriculture and weaving skills; they had farms of corn, yams, cassava. But lacked on having working animals and iron. What intrigued Columbus the most was their gold earrings. With no iron and real tools of defense, the Arawaks became defenseless.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who received credit for the discovery of the Americas in 1492. His goal was to discover another route to India instead, he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Hispaniola which is present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Although, historians argue he did not technically discover the Americas, he opened trade routes between the Old World and the New World. He influenced later explorers and impacted the development of the Columbian Exchange. The historians present their attitudes towards the consequences and outcomes of Christopher Columbus and his discovery. They also state their argument on his controversial legacy about whether Christopher Columbus should be perceived as a hero or a villain.

The Columbian Exchange is the movement of goods or products and people. It was introduced in the time of Columbus voyages. It put plants, animals and cultures together. Europe introduced technology, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, tobacco and cotton. The Old world then introduced wheat, rice, sugarcane, horses, cattle, pigs and sheep. One downfall of this transaction was that Europeans brought with them germs.

In “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas,” the authors point out that there were two channels in the transfer of food crops. One are unknown tropical spcies from the New World, which has affected on the growth of local cuisines. They are rich in calories and improving taste and vitamin intake. Otherwise, the Old World also brought certain crops. America gave a plenty of land that helped response the high food demand, and became the main supplies for Old World markets. In this way, they unknowingly carried many Old World diseases, such as smallpox, meales, and other diseases. They were unfamiliar to the Native America and they never had developed immunity to such disease. By the early 1600’s, the population of Indians decreased nearly 90%. Furthermore, Columbus’ sailors encountered sexually with native women Indians so that they brought the deadly bacteria unwittingly back to Europe. This reason led slavery system traded from Africa for labor requirement for cotton and tobacco plantation

Throughout history, Christopher Columbus was seen in quite contrary ways. Some would view him as a valiant hero who discovered the New World and vanquished the primitive ways of the savage and barbaric native people. Others would see Columbus in a much different light, describing him as an interloper who spread disease to and enslaved an entire native people. These two statements above describe two vastly different visions of Christopher Columbus. In fact, the hard evidence would support that a bit of both of the above visions are indeed factual. Christopher Columbus was a man with several wonderful achievements, however some of these achievements had several negative repercussions. Columbus's discovery of the New World led to a more diverse society, a new social system, and the exploitation and eventual extermination of the Native peoples.

• had a formal language to write, a type of counting system, an correct calendar, and a agri system that was ahead of the time

Entry 1: Columbus was most likely not the first to travel across the Atlantic Ocean and he probably never even set foot on the North American mainland. He also did not set out to explore to prove if the Earth was round or not. His calculations of getting to Asia were wrong and the countries Portugal, France, and England knew that and told him no when he asked for money to help him on his quest. The names of the three ships he took were actually called other names. He left 40 crewmembers to start the first European establishment in the New World because the Santa Maria crashed during the voyage.

Christopher Columbus wrote this letter in the hopes of outlining his discoveries to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. They along with other backers helped him in his pursuit of finding a quicker route to the Chinese trade markets. Columbus wanted many things from his voyage, fame and fortune being the front runners. The King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella wanted the the fame and fortune like Columbus, and also the ability to bring their religion to many lands all over the globe. His crew set sail from Spain in the three well known ships listed as the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria. Columbus sailed from new island to new island for many months on end, in what we now know as the modern day Caribbean. Christopher Columbus’s efforts were groundbreaking, and his letter served to further his efforts of another voyage by showcasing his success of discovering the Indies, routes, the people, and their natural resources. The promise of new trade routes, silver, spices, silk, and other merchandise were replaced with his belief he “conquered” new islands, set up a colony, and brought back a small supply of gold and slaves.