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The Columbian Exchange Analysis

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This week we explored the topic of exchanges throughout the world through two of Alfred Crosby's readings. When referencing Ecological Imperialism I will cite as (Crosby, 2004, page number) and when referencing The Columbian Exchange I will site as (Crosby, 2003, page number). While discussing two very different times in the Earth's history, both books provided an insight into the environmental exchanges that can occur, and I believe that Crosby did a great job explaining these exchanges with both books. First, I want to look at Ecological Imperialism. One of the first things that struck my attention was his focus on European population spread. He argues that "it is more difficult to account for the distribution of this subdivision of the human species than that of any other." ( Crosby, 2004, p.3) I tend to disagree with his argument. I read that as , we are not sure why there is such a displacement of the European population, and I cannot seem to see Crosby would make such an argument. The Columbian Exchange goes into European exploration and settling. He in turn almost contradicts himself. I wish that was a statement he would have further explained- or perchance I just mistook it. It is quite obvious to me why there is such a displacement of Europeans and that is due to them taking their excess populace and relocating in different parts of the …show more content…

One topic that Crosby discusses is the survival and spread of "weeds." I found it interesting that pretty much no matter where you go in the world; one common factor is weeds. I believe this is because as Crosby points out, "weeds" is not a scientific term. (Crosby, 2004, p.28) I believe that if we took the trouble to classify the different types of weeds, that we would find some indigenous to certain areas; but since we have not, weeds are a universal

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