I believe that more good than bad has resulted from European exploration. Although there were many bad things that occurred during this time, I believe the benefits outweighed the cost and in the long run, many great things have resulted from European exploration. First, the Columbian Exchange yielded many good as well as bad consequences, which started when Columbus made his journey to the New World in 1492. Native Americans were first introduced to horses, cattle, pigs, and grains. Reciprocally, the Old World gained many new things such as tomatoes, potatoes, corn, tobacco, and cocoa. But with the interaction of many people come diseases, and the Native Americans were by far the hardest hit. The combination of smallpox, measles, mumps,
The Columbian Exchange began as people from the Old World and New World began to interact with one another. Natives had many valuable items such as gold and corn, which contributed to one of the many positive effects the New World had on the Old World. Population rapidly increased in Europe and Africa due to new crops, and eventually caused China’s population to triple (America’s History, pg43). The English settlers brought wheat, apples, and grasses for the livestock to graze on. One of the less desirable results of the Columbian Exchange was the exchange of diseases. Along with domesticated animals, which enriched the Native diet, Europeans brought smallpox, measles, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever (The Columbian Exchange, pg1). These diseases devastated Native populations as countless people fell at the hands of new illnesses. Thousands died of mysterious disease, and it got to the point where tribes ran out of people to make fires, fetch water, and bury the dead (The Columbian Exchange, pg1). Native suffering did not stop there. White brutality, alcoholism, and the killing and driving off of game also took a toll on them. While the colonists did suffer from American diseases such as syphilis and Chagas Disease, the deaths from that are insignificant to Native
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
The Columbian Exchange was the exchange of animals, diseases, and technology between the Old War and the New World. Native Americans before Columbus’s arrival would depend heavily on hunting and gathering or hunting and fishing depending on the tribe. But when Columbus and his crew came they killed the majority of the buffalo, but also introduced several crops and animals, such as tobacco and cows. There were a lot of cash crops that the Indians introduced to the Europeans such as sugarcane, rice, and wheat which definitely boosted the economy. One thing however, that did not change at all after Columbus’s arrival was the fact that they still had a thirst for trying new things and exploration.
The Age of Exploration spread many ideas and knowledge through cultural diffusion to new lands. With the discovery of the Americas, new lands were conquered and religions like Christianity found new followers. While there are many positive aspects of the Age of Exploration, it was a bad thing for others. In the sixteenth century the Europeans had a positive or negative effect on Europe, Africa and the Americas The Europeans affected European culture in an unsurprisingly good way. As depicted in Doc 8, while they did lose half of their ships they came back with a huge profit in spices.
The Colombian exchange did not transfer only good things. Many diseases such as small pox, measles, mumps, and malaria were brought over to the New World from the Old World, and killed millions of natives (Document F). Hernando de Soto explored the Mississippi Valley in the early 1500s where he found large, thriving cities connected by networks of trade. When Rene-Robert de La Salle followed de Soto’s path in the 1680s, those cities had vanished because of disease (Document C). Not only was disease a negatve effect of European exploration but the natives became enslaved and were treated very poorly. Spaniards cut off the hands of Native Americans for not collecting enough gold for them that day, proving Spaniards were very harsh towards the natives (Document A). Not only that, but the first thing Columbus thought when he said the natives, was that they would make great servants (Document
When Europeans began coming to the New World to explore it in 1492, they encountered the Native Americans. The Native Americans at that time were known as “Indians.” The Europeans and the Native Americans started an exchange. This exchange is known as the Columbian Exchange. This exchange has changed our history forever because of how it affected the Native Americans.
Everything that occurred during the Columbian Exchange wasn’t entirely positive. During the exchange, diseases were transmitted from the New to the Old World. Most of the Europeans in the New world were more immune to the disease than the Native Americans. The population of the Indians quickly reduced with the incoming of diseases. Common New world diseases included: Syphilis, Polio, Hepatitis, and Encephalitis. The diseases spread rapidly
- 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,
European Exploration is negative due to the effects that individual explorers and triangular trade still has on my life. Racism and the endangerment of native people are prime examples of the negative consequences of European Exploration.
“Whatever the particular crimes of Europe, that continent is also the source -- the unique source -- of the liberating ideas of the individual liberty, political democracy the rule of law, human rights, and cultural freedom that constitute our most precious legacy and to which most of the world today aspires. In fact, it was precisely the contact with America that stimulated Europe to develop further some of the principles we take for granted today as constituting the basic minimum of human rights and proper international conduct.”-Document 12. Yes, explorers killed millions of natives with disease but explorers should be glorified because of the Columbian Exchange, they started beneficial cultural diffusion and the explorers were very intelligent people, not random sailors.
For many generations, it was taught that the expansion of Europe to the Americas, (also known as the European expansion), had a huge impact on all societies of the old world. The importance of this was taught to societies all across the world, and was indeed a necessary occurrence. Up until recently, the idea was never given any real thought for the majority of people as to how, over many generations in the family and throughout the passage of time, how they precisely got where they are currently today, as well as what kind of pain and suffering the continents known as North and South America was initially founded on. European expansion did have some positive effects for the Europeans, such as new lands and resources, however at the same time it had caused many more negative effects on both the Natives and Europeans.
The impact of the massive European exploration in North and South American was felt not only were they had explored, but internationally. From the agricultural improvements made in South Africa, to the horses brought to Argentina by the conquistadors, the European explorations transformed society and culture intercontinentally. The positive effects of the European explorations impacted the entire world; the livestock and agriculture brought back from the Americas enhanced the source of revenue for millions. The explorers introduced food to Europe that could endure the harsh conditions that were present, and spices that heightened the economies of many European nations. This is exemplified by the introduction spices and other cash crop items. Although European explorations led to many positive successes, an immense negative aspect of the explorations was the mistreatment of the Natives people. These people were exposed to foreign European disease, which killed many of their population. Many were enslaved by the explorers, used for the knowledge of the land then discarded. In this time period, the European explorers had a Eurocentric, imperialistic, and capitalistic mindset. Majority of the explorers did not respect the indigenous people, and
Exploration has had a huge impact on the world. It brought animals, plants, and foods to other civilizations. However, exploration does have some downfalls. The obvious reason would be that it’s too expensive. The second would be that it’s dangerous. Finally, the last reason is that we may not find what we’re looking for.
There is a lot of ways that Technology helped the Europeans discovered the Americas. With the better technology, the easier it was to find the Americas. Which meant that every time an explorer came back, another one would go a little farther. So with better technology, they can find more land, more resources, and spread their religion. They could also map new grounds.
First, the Columbian Exchange took place between the old and new world. The old world gave the new world things such as horses, pigs, and cows. They also gave the new world wheat, sugar, rice, and coffee. Also, the Columbian Exchange resulted in cultural division. Lastly, the Columbian Exchange caused many Native Americans to die from European diseases.