What Is The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange, beginning in 1492 with Christopher Columbus’s first voyage, was a global trading standoff between the Old World and the New World. Plants, animals, and diseases were being traded fervently between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The global and social changes made during this exchange would leave a lasting impression on the Americas in the years that followed.

Many plants that were not native to the Americas were brought over on trade ships and began to grow there. For instance, bananas, apples, almonds, etc. Africa traded spices over to the Americas like black pepper. Brown rats and earthworms also made their way into the America’s wilderness where they grew and spread in the new habitat. Plants like wild oats and tumbleweeds were introduced as well, changing the environment of those involved forever.

The discovery of the New world or America in the year 1492, and The Columbian Exchange it played a significant role on bring resources to various parts of the world. It brought the exchange of various resources like plants, animals, and diseases across the world. The year was 1492 is when Christopher set sail and put in motion The Columbian Exchange or also known as The Great Exchange. The Columbian Exchange affected the geographic location with the trading routes with Afro-Eurasia to the Americas. Also, The Exchange affected the economic with various countries with the trading. Finally, it affected the social change that made us the county we are to this day. With this exchange set forth the trading of various

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 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.

When the Europeans explored the Americas, they were introduced to new plants, foods, and animals, as well as riches and land. Foods such as corn, white and sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, cacao, fruits,

In the new world, Europeans encountered indigenous plant foods cultivated by Native Americas. These plants were potatoes, beans, corn, tobacco, and cocoa. The potato is especially important because it’s known for one of the main foods for Ireland. The European’s influenced oats and barley etc. Domesticated animals as pigs, chickens, sheep, and ox were also brought to the Americas. Horses were also brought to the new world which was a new tool for hunting and used for military.

The Triangular trade was a trade system among Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Europe made manufactured goods such as textiles, gun powder, firearms, iron and copper bars, alcohol, cloth and brass kitchen ware. These were traded in Africa for slaves, gold, and silver, which were transported to the Americas, where they were exchanged for tobacco, fish, lumber, flour, sugar cane, cotton, and distilled rum. This merchandise was then brought to Europe, where the cycle began again. The Triangle Trade was very

The Columbian Exchange marks a big turning point in American history because it introduced new diseases, plants, animals, and changed the global economy between Europe and North America. When the Europeans arrived in North America, the Natives were not ready for their coming. The Europeans brought with them many diseases including Smallpox, Syphilis, Polio, Hepatitis, and Encephalitis. The Native Americans had no immunity to these diseases so their population was quickly decimated. The diseases brought by the Europeans were also very communicable which made the disease spread much faster. Both Europeans and Native Americans suffered from the diseases that were spread between the two worlds, but Europeans didn’t undergo

The Columbian Exchange is the movement of goods or products and people. It was introduced in the time of Columbus voyages. It put plants, animals and cultures together. Europe introduced technology, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, tobacco and cotton. The Old world then introduced wheat, rice, sugarcane, horses, cattle, pigs and sheep. One downfall of this transaction was that Europeans brought with them germs.

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:

The Columbian Exchange was the movement of animals, plants, ideas, diseases, and technology across the Atlantic Ocean. The list above was traded between the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The exchange cause negative and positive results in all three continents.

In document 9, Rees says that the early Americans realized that the crops with more calories were better because they fed more people and made them more energized. This realization led to the Americans accepting and adopting the European crops and cuisines. In addition to the crops, Europeans brought a variety of animals ranging from pigs to horses. These animals were able to reproduce and grow rapidly due to the lack of predators. From the New World, the Europeans were able to get precious metals such as gold and silver, in addition to tobacco (Document 8). The exchange brought 2 hemispheres that had been isolated from each other for millennia. The exchange resulted in the United States becoming the greatest multicultural and multiethnic nation that it is today(Document 6). For the Europeans, coming to the Americas was a way for them to build a better life. According to document 4, Large families with small houses needed land and they

The Columbian Exchange was a widespread transfer of plants, animals, human population, technology, ideas and disease between the Old World and the New World in the 15th and 16th centuries. “After 1492, human voyagers in part reversed this tendency. Their artificial re-establishment of connections through the commingling of Old and New World plants, animals, and bacteria, commonly known as the Columbian Exchange, is one of the more spectacular and significant ecological events of the past millennium (Crosby).” Europe was considered as the Old World and the New World considered to be the Americas. They were each given these names because of the continental shifts that separated the giant land mass making it into two. The Columbian Exchange started after Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas in 1492.

The significance of the Colombian Exchange was the Europeans bringing over their crops, animals, and diseases. First, crops are a direct way for population growth in humans. The Columbian Exchange brought new crops to the New World such as maize, white potatoes, sweet potatoes and manioc. These are all crops that are essential to our diets today. Our ability to grow and harvest plants is amazing in itself but to travel to uncharted land and thrive is truly greatness. Animals were affected by the Colombian Exchange too. Cattle and horses were brought ashore in the early 1600s and found the perfect climate in the New World. On a negative note, the Europeans brought over their diseases which almost eliminated a whole population of people. Small Pox was the culprit for most of the Native American deaths. The Native Americans did not have the immune system built for these kind of diseases and most of them died. The Columbian Exchange changed the entire demographic of the world.