Horses In The Columbian Exchange

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.

Native Americans easily engaged in trade with Europeans. They wished to include new glass and metal items in their society. European and Native Americans viewed trade as a means for economic development. Native Americans viewed trade, also, as a way for communicating with individuals and maintaining interdependence. This is evident in the elaborate gift giving celebrations that occurred before exchanging of goods occurred. For Europeans, however, these social and spiritual functions of trade were limited a great deal more.

The Columbian exchange is an interchange of plants, ideas, diseases and many more things traded between the New World and the Old World during the 15th and 16th century. It all began in 1492 after Christopher Columbus went on his voyage and discovered the New World. After discovering the New World many milestones in history began to form. Following in his steps of his new discovery came some of the Europeans. Since the Colombian exchange began, many things have been brought to America and many things have been sent over in the directions. The Old World has brought over many supplies as in sugar, coffee, horses and smallpox. The Americas brought to them corn, cocoa beans, and tomatoes in their exchange. Not only did the old and the new world bring great things to each other, they also brought diseases and a decrease in the population of the new world. Instead of the old world taking in the new world’s culture, it was reversed. The new world had taken in the old world’s way of lifestyle.

Horses and guns played a significant role in the Native Americans lives. Before horses the Indians had to walk and run to hunt. They would follow the bison or other animal’s trails. With the use of horses the Native people could expand the distance traveled for hunting. Guns were a huge change for everyone as well. Before them the people had to be close to their enemy or hunt to kill. They would use axes, bow and arrow, or arrow heads attached to sticks. The new inventions did cause problems between nearby tribes but helped when fighting or escaping the American

Until the sixteenth century, the experts in that period of time believed that it was impossible to sail west across from the Atlantic to Asia. By his adventure, Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator, proved that they were wrong. However, based on the theory that the earth was a sphere, he thought that he could reach the East Indies by sailing west. He calculated the distance from Portugal to Asia was shorter than to Congo. In fact, the real distance from Portugal to Japan was much further, over ten thousand miles. With his erroneous estimate, he planned a scheme to prove he was right. After several unsuccessful lobbying in Portugal, Spain, even in England and France, eventually, in 1492, he won financing for his journey from Spanish monarchs,

The introduction of horses to Native Americans changed their life in both good and bad ways. The reason for this is because horses made farming more efficient. Horses could pull plows that were too heavy for the Natives. Horses also gave the Native Americans advantages in war by providing them a height advantage over their enemies. However, horses also brought many diseases that killed off most of the Natives. Tobacco is a great example of a new product that

The Old World introduced horses, pig, cattle, and sheep, which helped the Europeans while they were settling. Before the arrival of these animals the native people only had turkeys, llamas, alpacas, and dogs. However, years after Columbus’ arrival the cattle and sheep because wild and were everywhere. The Natives were not very pleased with these wild animals, considering that they would destroy food crops. The horse, however, made the lives of the Natives easier by helping them move and kill faster than before. Due to horses, Indians decided to leave farming and become nomadic buffalo hunters which made them a bigger enemy to the settlers. For this reason horses were one of the few things that the native peoples would want from the Europeans.

About 200 million years ago there was one big continent called Pangaea. They believed that, this landmass began to separate. They believed that the Atlantic Ocean formed, dividing Africa and Eurasia from the Americas. Over the next several million years plants and animals changed and made to separate biological worlds. It wasn’t until Christopher Columbus and his crew sailed to the Americas in October 1492, they started interacting with each other.

The Columbian Exchange was a time when the Europeans and the Native North Americans exchanged many cultural and physical ideas and items from both the New World and Old. The Europeans gave the Natives a sense of civilization when they were given a written alphabet, farming capabilities, new warfare technology, and improved building techniques. This invasion of culture gave the Europeans room to spread their knowledge of Christianity and allow them to attempt conversion of the Natives. By teaching the Natives how to read and write a European language, the Europeans could now more easily communicate and trade with the people of the New World. Giving the Natives the use of a plow for their farming techniques, gave the Europeans access to endless

These animals would affect the Americas in ways of food, transportation and battle. Document 6 states “Horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle were all European animals that flourished rapidly in the Americas because they were able to reproduce without being hindered by predators” (Document 6). Horses were used in battle to surprise the enemy and make travel faster and pigs were used as a food source. Oxen were used to transport goods faster than natives having to carry supplies on their backs. Document 8 illustrates the trading of livestock such as cattle, sheep, pigs, and

As it states in document one, the Spaniards spread their knowledge to the Natives and taught them how to read, write, thresh and sell harvest, make bread, breed cattle and so many more. They taught them all these things so that the world can develop faster, and due to them keeping their word, cultural diffusion started and spread rapidly. Later on another system, known as Columbian Exchange, spread. It was a system which, according to document three, “brought benefit to all peoples.” This system started the exchange of plant and animal during the European expansion into the Americas. The introduction of the horse, cow, and various grains vastly increased the food productivity all around the globe. Although, this is only the second of the many genius’ the explorers had

The Columbian Exchange is non-fiction book written by Alfred W. Crosby JR. It illustrates the important events that transpired when Columbus came to America in 1492. I initially chose this this book because I wanted to know more about Europe's effects on America, and how Columbus altered the flora and fauna of America for better and for worse. As I started to read further into the book I immediately was captivated by all the information that was hidden within the text.

When building the New World, the labor that was used was due to racism and slavery. Wealthy white people would come to the Americas for opportunity while poor white indentured servants and enslaved African Americans built their colonies and worked in the fields. As time went on, people began to view certain races as more important and of a higher class than others. The New World became a heavily racist society filled with African Americans being captured and brought over to the America’s only to be worked to death. Even Indians were treated differently based off their origin and religion.

When the Columbian Exchange didn’t happen yet many of the Native Americans had to do all of the labor by themselves without any use of animals. After the Columbian Exchange, Columbus brought over horses, dogs, cattle, goats, and chicken and it provided the Natives with a new source of labor and also with a new source of food. Many of these animals carried diseases and humans were dying. Those diseases that the animals carried with them came to the New World. Cattle were very profitable because you could eat their meat and also use their hides as a blanket. The cattle hides were then shipped back to Europe to be sold as well as the meat. Cattle have a downfall because they were destroying Native American crops by eating them or by just simply stepping on them. Black rats carried bubonic plague and typhus; the black rats came from the Old World to the New World and that plague spread to the colonist. The plague also killed off some of the smaller animals that belong to the Native Americans. Horses also land a great impact in the new world for Europeans; they used horses to scare the Native Americans because the natives didn’t know what horse was and what they do. Horses have lots of power and compared to the other animals the horses are much faster and have a bolder look and that is why the Natives are so frighten of

While horses and guns revolutionized warfare, trading for everyday goods greatly improved the life for the Native Americans. These items included new pots, beads, scissors, and hatchets. For example, the introduction of the scissors allowed the women to cut cloth more easily and precisely than before. Overall, everyday activities such as cooking and weaving were made much easier because of trade for European goods. The Native Americans frequently