Effects Of The Columbian Exchange

The introduction of new plants, animals and technologies had great impact on North America’s environment. For example, horses were amongst the many animals introduced, as a result, the native people were able to travel longer distances in a shorter period of time, and hunt more effectively. Other animals that were introduced include pigs, cattle, and accidentally, the black rat. Alongside the black rat came the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague was not the only disease introduced to North America by the Europeans. Some of the diseases introduced were influenza, smallpox, measles, and scarlet fever. Crops that were introduced include sugar, coffee, wheat, and rice. These plants were new to the native people and animals, so some adjustment was required.

By integrating so many Old World ideas, it became harder and harder to identify their true culture. Even today, one could go to an Indian reservation and see only a few people who carry as much original native traditions as possible, but none of them can because some of the new ideas were so hidden, like horses, that it's hard for even a person who is majority Native American to dissect his or her culture to its purest form. Other countries still have bright culture that they hold on to and can be recognized by. The Old World was affected negatively by the New World, but not in such a harsh way. They came back with less than half the diseases that they brought. Many people were killed by the sicknesses like yellow fever, but not in any kind of comparison to the Native Americans, and the diseases they brought were nothing to the Black Plague that so many had heard about so it didn't affect them as much as natives. Tobacco, although it may seem small, was an unnoticed problem for Europeans. It soon became a necessity. Both chewing and smoking affected their heath and is even a problem today. The negative effects on the Old World are significantly less severe than on the New World. The Old World had a huge advantage over the Native Americans because they could see a native's actual life and almost everything about them while the New World didn't originally have that benefit. Because of this, the Europeans got many agriculture ideas and foods from

Illnesses such as smallpox killed the majority of Native American populations significantly weakening the Naive Americans allowing for Europeans to more easily conquer them. The transfer of crops from the Americas to Europe allowed for a more population growth and shaped their cuisine to this day. Potatoes and native to the Americas yet they are and were a staple of European diets, most notably the Irish. European discovery of resources in the Americas led to millions of African slaves being shipped to the Americas to work in mines or plantations. This widespread slave trade has influences race relations to this day.

The Columbian Exchange is the exchange of plants, animals, food, and diseases between Europe and the Americas. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus came to America, he saw plants and animals he had never seen before so he took them back with him to Europe. Columbus began the trade routes which had never been established between Europe and the Americas so his voyages initiated the interchange of plants between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, which doubled the food crop resources available to people on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the new world, Europeans encountered indigenous plant foods cultivated by Native Americas. These plants were potatoes, beans, corn, tobacco, and cocoa. The potato is especially important because it’s known for one of the main foods for Ireland. The European’s influenced oats and barley etc. Domesticated animals as pigs, chickens, sheep, and ox were also brought to the Americas. Horses were also brought to the new world which was a new tool for hunting and used for military.

Columbian Exchange- The Columbian Exchange was a way exchanging new resources between the new world and the old world. This impacted Europeans and Native Americans positively with the new materials now available, like technology, plants, and animals. There were some negative effects from these exchanges too, such as diseases. Made it easier to interact with other cultures.

Food and crops, such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and sugar cane had a very big impact to the New World in helping to feed more people. These crops and food were a great find, considering people in the new world lived in treacherous places, such as the Mayans, but they found crops that were easy to grow. Tobacco, sugar, coffee and the many other New World crops became popular all over the world and brought more Europeans to Central America. Another positive for Europeans from the Columbian Exchange was the introduction of new medicines from the New World such as quinine for Malaria, “...exploration and colonization of this vast tropical regions of these continents was aided by the New World, discovery of quinine the first effective treatment for Malaria.” (pg 164 of The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas). Disease (along with slavery and war) was one of the huge negatives of the Columbian Exchange, because European diseases killed millions of Native Americans who did not have immunity to them. However, there are many diseases in the world, such as smallpox, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, typhus, and malaria and, although you could argue that if the Europeans had never come to the New World these diseases might not have come either, with its plentiful resources and its creative population the two civilizations would have eventually met, so this seems unlikely.

The Columbian Exchange was perhaps one of the first environmentally detrimental event in American history. This exchange refers to the trade of food, goods, and disease between the Old World, referring to the eastern hemisphere, and the New World, referring to the Americas. The New World had many things to contribute such as potatoes, maize, tomatoes, and chili peppers, which shaped the culinary of both Europe and Asia (Nun 163). Additionally, Europe introduced domesticated animals such as horses, cattle, cats, and dogs to the Americas.

The New world gave the Old world many riches and foods. This allowed the European Culture to expand into more of an agricultural country, allowing the population to rise. Although the New world did receive an abundance of plaques and illnesses from the Old, it also gave the Old world syphilis. Giving the Europeans their first lethal sexually transmitted illness. Both the Native Americans and the Europeans had suffered from illness and disease. With the ships the Europeans had brought over the ocean they had along with them animals including horses, cows and pigs. This allowed the Natives to travel more on horseback and instead of hunting they could raise

The Columbian Exchange refers to the time period in which the Native Americans of North America traded plants, animals, livestock, diseases, and new modernized technology with the Europeans. Not only were these things spread between the two nations, but the word was spread that North America was a new place for world to come and make their own. The early days of colonizing America was not successful for most of the countries wanting a part of it. These countries included England, Spain, and Portugal. The reasons behind them not finding prosperity in this land was because it was unchartered and no one knew what the land contained. The people struggled with adapting different and untried farming methods. Most of the exploring that was done brought many issues between the Native Americans and the new coming country. Provided that the Natives didn’t want new settlers on their land, and the settlers didn’t want any issues with claiming this new land as their own.

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

By 1491, Europeans already were growing grains such as rye, wheat, barley. They used wind and water as power sources, and had a lot of domesticated animals. Horses in Europe were plowing soil, and pigs were used as a source of protein and leather was made from their skin. Also, they had sheep and cows, so they could drink milk and make butter. In contrast, on American continent, natives were only growing corn, and in South America only potato was growing at that time. In America only lamas were present who could not pull a plow nor give milk. In North America Ice age and hunting put animals at levels of extinction.

One of these significant changes was the introduction to new disease to the new world. When the Europeans came over and started to interact with the Native Americans they brought with them new diseases that Native Americans weren't

One difference of the effects of the encounter on both regions is that in the Americas the population decreased and in Europe population increased. The Americas population increased for many reasons. One reason for this demographic effect is because when the Europeans went on the age of exploration and they found the Americas this resulted in the encounter. When the Europeans conquered the native people they brought germs to the new world. The people of the Americas had never been exposed to such infectious diseases like measles and smallpox, without any resistance to those diseases they died in huge numbers. Compared to the Americas/ the European population increased vastly. Due to the labor systems the Europeans set up they received and trade more foods from the old world and the new world and through the Columbian exchange. These were foods such as corn,

To begin the Europeans brought much live stock to the New World. They brought animals such as sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, and horses. Horses improved the lives of many Indians especially the Plain Indians. Also having all of these animals gave them more meats.