The Effects of the Columbian Exchange It was the year 1492, and a man by the name of Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain where he then landed in the present day Americas, sparking one of the most important events in the world, the Columbian exchange. The Columbian exchange has shaped the world to what it is today with the exchange of goods from the Old World to the New World, and vice versa. The Columbian exchange caused numerous short and long-term effects in the Americas and many other parts of the world. The short-term effects of the Columbian exchange included the outbreak of disease, which led to a sudden drop in the population of the indigenous peoples. In the beginning of the sixteenth century Spanish and Portuguese …show more content…
The foods that were brought back to the Old World such as, potatoes and corn proved a vital and necessary resource to the Europeans. Another short-term effect of the Columbian exchange was the migration of African slaves to the Americas. The majority of the Africans that were enslaved were caught in village raids or were war captives. They were caught by other Africans and sold to the European slave traders for money and other prized possessions. For slaves, the voyage known as the Middle Passage was a terrifying and perilous journey, with a death rate potentially as high as 50%. The long-term effects of the Columbian exchange included the swap of food, crops, and animals between the New World and Old World, and the start of the transoceanic trade. In order to produce a profit, Portuguese explorers were the first to established sugar cane plantations in Brazil. They then sold this crop to the Old World where it was a popular commodity because it provided Europeans with a sweetener for foods. In addition, European produce was brought to the New World, including “…wheat, vines, horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens… Where they sharply increased supplies of food and animal energy.” This fusion of crops between the Old and New World became fundamental in enhancing the diets and food of both populations.
The trading routes, created by the desire from both the New and Old World for exotic foods and animals,
The Columbian Exchange, beginning in 1492 with Christopher Columbus’s first voyage, was a global trading standoff between the Old World and the New World. Plants, animals, and diseases were being traded fervently between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The global and social changes made during this exchange would leave a lasting impression on the Americas in the years that followed.
Beginning after columbus discovery in 1492, the exchange lasted throughout the years of expansion and discovery. Exchanging plants, animals, diseases and more transformed European and Native American ways of life. The Columbian Exchange had both positive and negative aspects. For the Natives, who thrived in the Americas before the Europeans arrived, the effect was negative. Entire populations were wiped out by warfare and European diseases like smallpox which took many lives away. While the Columbian Exchange hindered the development of society in the Americas, it also aided the development in Europe.
The discovery of the New world or America in the year 1492, and The Columbian Exchange it played a significant role on bring resources to various parts of the world. It brought the exchange of various resources like plants, animals, and diseases across the world. The year was 1492 is when Christopher set sail and put in motion The Columbian Exchange or also known as The Great Exchange. The Columbian Exchange affected the geographic location with the trading routes with Afro-Eurasia to the Americas. Also, The Exchange affected the economic with various countries with the trading. Finally, it affected the social change that made us the county we are to this day. With this exchange set forth the trading of various
While European advantage was evident, the consequences of the transmittal of plants, animals, and diseases could not have been forseen. The Spanish conquistador Cortés advised the King of Spain to send all ships with plants and animals (Grennes 2007). This recommendation comes from the large quantities of land suitable for farming crops that were in demand in Europe, such as sugar. Crops of the New World required different soil composition, weather and growing season demands, and cultivation techniques than Old World crops. Growth of crops from the Old and New World (in many, but not all cases) complemented rather than competed with each other. This is due to the large North/South span of both
When the Europeans explored the Americas, they were introduced to new plants, foods, and animals, as well as riches and land. Foods such as corn, white and sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, cacao, fruits,
After Columbus made his journey to the New World in 1492, the Europeans brought a different culture to the people of the New World and took many new ideas back to the Old one, this was the time period known as the Columbian Exchange. Most of what the Europeans took from the Exchange was good, but some of what they brought was devastating to the people in the New World. Although, this time period was very brutal for the Native Americans, the Columbian Exchange resulted in the transmitting of new technologies, an increase in remedies and cures for diseases, and a growth in resources such as food that helped to improve life.
The Columbian Exchange is a huge exchange of goods and ideas between the old world and the new world. The old world is considered Europe, Asia and Africa and the new world is considered America. Their colonies started to trade with each other and that’s when they formed the Columbian Exchange. Many countries were involved in this trade, including China, Africa and Italy. The exchange of the new ideas, traditions, food, religion and diet changed cultures everywhere. The Natives gave and received many items. Even though Europeans and American Indians saw some similarities in each other, their words differed. The introduction of plants into the new world extended a process that had been taking place for centuries in the Old World. Trade
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
African people began to attack opposing tribes and taking captives, and then would sell the captives to the Europeans to use for slaves. They would be placed on slave ships, where they would be packed in, forced to sit with sicknesses, death and whippings. “I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; I had never seen among any people such instances of cruelty”(Equaino, Document D) The slaves were whipped on ships and treated like animals. The statement above was a quote from a previous slave. When slavery was brought to the New World, places with large agricultural based economies had many slaves. Sugarcane slaves were slaves that worked in the fields, planting, taking care of, picking and processing sugar cane. Life expectancy for these slaves was five years. The Silver mining slaves worked in conditions that would have them underground with poor ventilation, almost complete darkness, and natural disasters. They lived longer than Sugar Slaves, and most of the time could buy their freedom. The Columbian Exchange expanded the Atlantic Slave trade, which killed too
- The Columbian Exchange was a worldwide transfer of plants, animals, and diseases. Before Columbian Exchanged certain foods were not in European meals such as, corn, potatoes, and different kinds of beans – (kidney, lima), peanuts, and peppers. The same for the Native Americans, certain foods were not a part of the culture such as, rice, wheat, barley, oats, melons, Kentucky bluegrass, and dandelions. The diseases the European’s as well as the slaves carried over, they effected the Native Americans greatly and caused millions to die. These diseases consisted of smallpox’s,
The Columbian Exchange is named after Christopher Columbus.He sailed across the ocean trying to find the new world but instead he found America’s. Coming to America’s Columbus saw goods, and food that he never seen in Europe. Astonished by it he wanted to share it with Europe. He want to continue transporting goods so he establish trade routes to the Old world. Bringing squash, sweet potatoes, avocados, peppers, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, turkeys, pumpkins, tobacco, pineapples, cocoa beans, beans, and vanilla to Europe, Africa and Asia. “European products that brought about significant changes in New World diets include wheat; meat and meat products such as milk, cheese and eggs; sugar; citrus fruits; onions;
The Columbian Exchange , or the transfer of plants, animals, culture, human population, technology and ideas between the old and the new world, changed the world forever. The changes were both positive and negative but undeniably, the world we live in today would look completely different if trade had not opened between the Americas and Europe and Asia. Probably the most lasting result of the exchange is the effect it has had on the diets of people in the first world. We can eat food that comes from anywhere in the world. Food exchange was probably the most positive effect of the Columbian Exchange.
Although the exchange began in the early 15th century, it is still relevant today through the imports and exports of global products. The main contributors to the Columbian Exchange were the natives of the New World and travelers of the Old World. The term “Old World” refers to places that had European travelers had already seen, specifically Europe itself. When the news of Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World reached the Old World, other Europeans who wanted to see it for themselves also travelled to North America. The Columbian Exchange, which was a trade of ideas, products, disease, and people across the Atlantic Ocean that began in 1492 between the Old World and the New World, had both negative effects, such as conquest, slavery, disease and widespread death, as well as positive effects, such as the introduction of new crops to other parts of the
The Colombian exchange had so many positive effects on the world, mainly the growth of the agriculture and livestock trades. The approach of different crops to the old world from the America included starchy vegetables like potatoes, maize, and more with the potatoes having a bigger impact. The Colombian exchange not only included a trade of food crops, but also a trade of livestock used for the purposes of food, clothing and energy. The use of livestock in the Americas as a food source became important in the savannas regions, because the climate was not fit for major crop cultivation. One more example of the benefits of livestock, was that cattle were killed not only to help life, but for their hides and tallow as well.
Though more specifically involved in the Triangular Trade aspect of the exchange, Africa played the role of supplying cheap and easy labor for use by the assorted plantations and mines in the Americas. Previously a vast network of thriving tribes, kingdoms, and communities, the population of Western Africa was hurt severely by the taking of men by slavers and Europeans. Even worse, because more men were taken than women, many communities throughout the area would experience severe demographic problems, having multiple women for every man. One consolation however were the new crops brought in from the Americas. Although a number of plants were transferred, Cassava, Corn, and Sweet Potatoes would prove to be among the most successful and helped to increase the unbalanced population at least in