Positive And Negative Effects Of The Columbian Exchange

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.

Imagine being in a ship, under the deck, with no way to get out. The ship reeks of feces and sickness. You can only move a short way to go to the bathroom, the bathroom being a bucket. Wouldn’t you also give up on life altogether? This was the fate of every slave on the slave trade ships. Many tried to stop eating and stop living, but were whipped for doing so. It was a disgusting scene that caused so many deaths and a lot of darkness. This was a part of the Columbian exchange. If it weren’t for this exchange then the slave trade wouldn’t have started and become so huge.The Columbian exchange is detrimental because diseases spread quickly, the slave trade started, and many people died due to it.

By definition, the Columbian Exchange is described as the transatlantic flow of goods, people, and diseases, beginning with Christopher Columbus’s voyages and discovery of the New World in 1492. (Give Me Liberty!) This interpretation, however, does not give this event the acknowledgement it deserves, as the effects of this complex transaction made a significant impact of the modern history of the world. It completely shaped the world humans live in today, from the languages they speak, to the nations they live in, to the food they eat. (shmoop.com) The ideas, people, goods, and diseases spread during the Columbian Exchange diversified the world culturally, biologically, and economically.

The term “Columbian Exchange” refers to the massive transfer of life between the Afro-Eurasian and American hemispheres that was precipitated by Columbus’ voyage to the New World . It was known as the widespread interchange of plants, animals, diseases, culture, human populations and technology between Europe and the Americas. After Columbus’ arrival to the Americas, the plant, animal and bacterial life began to mix between the Americas, which was also referred to as the “New World” and Europe, which was also referred to as the “Old World”. But how did the Columbian Exchange influence the Americas? The Columbian exchange had a huge effect, biologically, culturally, and demographically.

The Columbian Exchange, derived from the voyages of Columbus to the Americas, was a chapter in history that connected the Old World to the New World by exchanging crops, culture, and technology. The Columbian Exchange in the Western Hemisphere resulted in extensive demographic, social, economic, and environmental changes. The arrival of Europeans to Native American land produced an intense mixture of culture and population fluctuation. Not only did this exchange affect the social aspect between the two nations, it changed the way people engaged in trade and proprietary interests, which would lead to a massive destruction and transformation of the environment.

The Columbian Exchange has been called the “greatest human intervention in nature since the invention of agriculture” (Grennes 2007). The exchange of diseases, plants, and animals lead to a global cultural and economic shift throughout the Old and New Worlds following Christopher Columbus' 'discovery' of the Americas in 1492. The Eastern Hemisphere saw an influx of raw materials, new staple crops, and the income from and production of growing crops that were too resource intensive for Europe and Asia. The Western Hemisphere saw large scale population shifts, massive devastation accompanying colonization, and a significant change in the ecosystem with the introduction of new, sometimes invasive, plants and animals. This 'exchange' had one

The beginning of the exchange happens, the plants and foods. The diets of the two cultures happened to be different, and so they altered them. The Western Hemisphere had many new different options for the Europeans to choose from. There were three new foods that the Europeans did not recognize, but took advantage; corn, which was called maize, it basically grew everywhere, sweet and white potatoes, and many different kinds of beans that the Europeans loved. (Shi and Tindall 37). Some other examples of the food the Indians shared with the Europeans are peanuts, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, pineapples, avocados, cacao, chewing gum, and the list goes on. The Europeans, on the other hand, presented to the indigenous people, the greatest foods that still go on to this day, which are, rice, wheat, barley, wine grapes, melons, coffee, olives, bananas, daisies, and many more. The transactions of these foods were so important to both cultures because when they combined them, they were amazingly rich in taste. Europeans did not have pepper, but when adding it to the food it became something so delicious it could not be real. Also, they did not know that in the future young people would conquer the New World with the positive effect that corn left them (Shi and Tindall 37). Both of these groups basically repaired their culture for good.

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.

Through the Columbian Exchange, the Indians brought potatoes to the Old World, which proved as a useful crop because you didn't have to take them out of the ground until you were ready to eat them. The Europeans brought over horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle to the New World. These animals flourished in the New World because they all were able to produce without having to worry about predators. The Europeans also brought sugar cane and bananas to the New World. These crops and livestock helped to make the New World a more diverse living space for the Europeans and the

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.

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.

In 1492 the explorer Columbus set out on his first voyage for Spain in search of a direct water route across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to Asia. Instead though, he found the Americas. Once in the New World Columbus ran into a native people and decided to name them Indians. This accidental finding of the Americas ignited the first contact ever between the Western and Eastern hemisphere. The result of this was The Columbian Exchange in which there was a large trade of animals, plants, technology, culture, slaves, diseases, and even new religions. This exchange effected the way Europeans, Americans, Asians, and Africans lived their daily lives. The Columbian exchange was by far one of the most paramount events in the history of world technology, agriculture, culture, and ecology. In this research paper the following will be answered:

Along with the introduction of livestock, rice and sugar were also brought to the New World from the Old world. Rice and sugar created a better food supply similar to the livestock. The sugar and rice added a variety to the food already in the New world. The introduction of rice in the New World enabled many farmers to grow it in the New World and transport it back to the Old World, creating a great profit.

In 1492, when the first of many Europeans arrived to the Americas, a new era had begun. The great leaders and trades between the old and new worlds have changed humanity for the better and worse. To understand how we should view the Columbian Exchange, it must be understood by its impact on the history of trade, change in civilization, and diseases.

The Columbian Exchange was a huge deal for Europe. Traders were going back and forth, from Europe to the New World, and back. This means that the traders were bringing new things, such as food and ideas. Food such as turkey, pumpkins, potatoes, corn, and more went from the Americas, or the New World, to the Old, or Europe. Things such as onions, bananas, livestock, and grains went from the Old to the New. However, one of the biggest downsides was that the Europeans brought diseases, such as smallpox, whooping cough, measles, and more to the New World. This ultimately destroyed the Native population, since they were not used to these diseases. The Columbian Exchange also brought along another horrible downside, the beginning of the Slave Trade,