The Era of Change: The Columbian Exchange
The age of maritime investigation paved the way for a new age of colonization and unification of the earth’s greatest societies at the time. As land was freshly discovered, nations would feel the need to settle into the land and claim it as their own. Once established, the foreigners would begin to make use of the unfamiliar resources at their disposal and trade their products with other peoples near and far. This process describes the origin and workings of what is known now as the Columbian Exchange. North and South America were two landmasses heavily colonized by Europe. The Europeans in America then established a trade system that reached their old continent, Europe, and Africa. Among the goods …show more content…
The sharp drop in the native populace occurred in response to the spread of germs and weapons that the native people of these named regions were not yet introduced to. As the Europeans settled into these countries, they brought with them diseases that they had grown a natural immunity to, but to which the natives had never been exposed, thus the native population would have had no previous chance to build up immunity to these foreign diseases. Also, along with diseases, foreigners brought with them highly advanced weapons that the world had never seen before! The Europeans brought guns to these new lands where the only weapon forged previously was the bow and arrow. The unadvanced natives hardly stood a chance in a dominance battle with them. Hence, the increased amount of native deaths in each of these regions. In the Americas, it is thought that some ninety percent of the native population died due to the diseases they caught and the casualties suffered at the hands of those who colonized them. Starting somewhere around fifteen million, the native population of Central Mexico dropped to one million by the mid-1600’s. With as many innovations that the Columbian Exchange spread across the world, it brought its fair share of destruction as …show more content…
A world fairly separated became a globe connected by networks of trade and commerce. As lands were colonized, resources were put to use, and changes began to happen that put the world on the path to becoming what it is today. The effects of the Columbian Exchange include a sharp plunge in the native population of colonized regions, the Americas’ installation in the world of global communication, and a change in the context of slavery from it being an affair of debt to one of
The age of maritime investigation paved the way for a new age of colonization and unification of the earth’s greatest societies at the time. As land was freshly discovered, nations would feel the need to settle into the land and claim it as their own. Once established, the foreigners would begin to make use of the unfamiliar resources at their disposal and trade their products with other peoples near and far. This process describes the origin and workings of what is known now as the Columbian Exchange. North and South America were two landmasses heavily colonized by Europe. The Europeans in America then established a trade system that reached their old continent, Europe, and Africa. Among the goods …show more content…
The sharp drop in the native populace occurred in response to the spread of germs and weapons that the native people of these named regions were not yet introduced to. As the Europeans settled into these countries, they brought with them diseases that they had grown a natural immunity to, but to which the natives had never been exposed, thus the native population would have had no previous chance to build up immunity to these foreign diseases. Also, along with diseases, foreigners brought with them highly advanced weapons that the world had never seen before! The Europeans brought guns to these new lands where the only weapon forged previously was the bow and arrow. The unadvanced natives hardly stood a chance in a dominance battle with them. Hence, the increased amount of native deaths in each of these regions. In the Americas, it is thought that some ninety percent of the native population died due to the diseases they caught and the casualties suffered at the hands of those who colonized them. Starting somewhere around fifteen million, the native population of Central Mexico dropped to one million by the mid-1600’s. With as many innovations that the Columbian Exchange spread across the world, it brought its fair share of destruction as …show more content…
A world fairly separated became a globe connected by networks of trade and commerce. As lands were colonized, resources were put to use, and changes began to happen that put the world on the path to becoming what it is today. The effects of the Columbian Exchange include a sharp plunge in the native population of colonized regions, the Americas’ installation in the world of global communication, and a change in the context of slavery from it being an affair of debt to one of