Negative Effects Of The Columbian Exchange On The New World

on the New World was both beneficial and destructive. An example of both was the trade of new plants and agriculture. The trade of these items worked two ways. First, new plants and ideas were shipped outside to Europe from the New World. Accounts from explorers and travelers such as Christopher Columbus and Hernando Cortez explain that the crops and animals in the New World were fulfilling and plentiful, exactly what they needed in their homelands. (Doc 1 and 2) Second, Europe brought their own agriculture and goods to the New World; things they could not live without. In an illustration from the Codex Florentino, ships of Hernando Cortez are being eagerly unloaded onto the shores of Mexico, signifying the trade from the Old World to the New. (Doc 5) The trade of such goods was important to the diet and changing society of the natives living in the New World. However, the trade was possibly more destructive than good. In Alfred Crosby’s description of plant exchange, he finds that most plants that are invasive ad destructive to the natural environment of

The Columbian Exchange that occurred in the Western Hemisphere subjected America to extensive changes that would fundamentally change the people that lived there, the people that would come to live there, and the land itself. In fact, the America that we know today has been shaped by the events that took place hundreds of years ago during the Columbian Exchange. As European people brought their culture and values to the Americas, it started to combine and mix with the cultures and values already established there, changing both Europeans and Indians in admittedly small, but significant ways. While this can be considered a positive point of the Columbian Exchange, in its entirety, the Columbian Exchange could be considered a disaster, especially for the natives that lived in America before the Europeans came to claim it. Not only did Indians suffer at the hands of European diseases that we completely foreign to them, killing off millions and changing the Indian demographic forever, but the world that they grew to be so familiar with changed around them.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

When you are sitting in a fancy restaurant in Texas, tasting a delicious steak with a nice cup of coffee, do you know that before 1492, American people don’t even know what is beef and coffee. Nowadays, people’s diet is abundant. People in every part of the world can taste the food originated in other side of the world. This is due to one of the most significant ecological events in human history called the Columbian Exchange. According to Nunn Nathan and Qian Nancy, “the Columbian Exchange refers to the exchange of diseases, ideas, food crops, and populations between the New World and the Old World following the voyage to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492” (Nathan and Nancy, 2010). It was so spectacular that has left both positive and negative impacts in each side of the world.

The Colombian Exchange affected the New World by blending goods from the Old World with New World. It brought new resources, such as plants and animals to both the New and Old Worlds. However it also started the spread of diseases.

- 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,

In the 1400’s - 1700’s the Columbian Exchange had begun following the voyage of Christopher Columbus. On his famous voyage, Columbus found the Americas a new land that no one discovered. This voyage sparked the start of the Columbian Exchange a huge transfer of animals, plants, technology and human populations. The Columbian Exchange positively affected the world because it brought many new crops and foods to the Americas and Europe. Along with new foods, it also brought new animals and religion to the Americas. Although the Columbian Exchange brought many positive items, it also brought diseases like small pox and measles and contributed to slavery.

The Columbian Exchange was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries, related to European colonization and trade after Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage. The Columbian exchange affected some lives tremendously and others lives in relatively less significantly. The people who were most strongly affected were the natives of the Americas and those of Africa. The Native Americans were affected tremendously, mostly in negative ways. It is possible to say that they were helped by the Columbian Exchange because the exchange brought new species of animals to the New World. This improved the lifestyles of many native groups. However, the natives of the Americas were devastated by the germs that came to the New World as part of the exchange. Infectious diseases like smallpox are believed to have killed up to half of the of the native population since that population had no resistance to those diseases. Europeans’ lives were generally enriched by the exchange. Europeans got new foods like tomatoes and potatoes. They got corn and tobacco and chocolate. All of these new foods diversified their diets and made them more interesting. Other Europeans enriched themselves monetarily. Many Europeans came to the New World and

The Columbian Exchange helped the advancements of societies internationally with the exchange of food. Food like maize and potatoes coming from America became staple crops throughout Europe. (Document 1) Europeans vastly depended on these foods so much that the Great Famine resulted in the failure of the potato crop in Ireland. Other traded items like sugar, tobacco, coffee and various spices benefitted both sides of the world. The New World gained new types of crops and the rest of the world like Europe and Asia obtained money from trade.

The impact of the Columbian Exchange on most people in the Americas, Europe, and Africa were new diseases, a new way of life, and decreases in population due to the amount of economic decay. The Columbian Exchange was the creation of colonies in the Americas that led to the exchange of new types of food, plants, and animals. These types of exchanges (plants, animals, and food) also took place between Europe and the Americas. The Columbian Exchange originally began due to explorers who spread and collected new plants, animals, and ideas around the globe as they traveled. Due to the occurrence of the Columbian Exchange, there was a significant alteration in the ecology of most of the world.