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The Columbian Exchange : The Old World's Effect On The Old And New World

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The Columbian Exchange is described as one of the most significant events that has happened in history. It brought a new way of living into the Old and New World and caused a domino effect. The discovery of the New World in 1492 opened a new chapter in European history.
The New World was home to a vast variety of produce that Europe had never seen before so they soon started to export those goods. It included things such as tobacco, turkey, vanilla bean, potatoes, cacao bean, avocadoes, different types of peppers, etc. Europe’s economy and population was dramatically affected by the discovery of the New World. These new foods allowed for a better agriculture which lead to a growth in population and improved their economy. These crops bettered the Old World’s diets. The population growth soon began to decline because of another feature of The Columbian Exchange, diseases. Most of the ones effected were those of the New World. When Europeans went to the New World they carried their diseases with them. These diseases included ones such as smallpox, measles, the plague, the influenza, yellow fever, scarlet fever, whooping cough, and many more. People from the Old World had a weak immune system and had no resistance towards the European diseases but the European were also given their fair share of diseases. Europeans started to learn American cultures and relationships started to happen, this cause Europeans to be infected with sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis,

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