Columbian Exchange Dbq Essay

The Columbian Exchange had both positive and negative impacts on the New World, however there were more positive impacts than negative. Due to the Columbian Exchange, new crops, animals, foods, and flowers were brought over to the New World. These were all beneficial for people living in the New World. In addition to these positive impacts, there was one big negative impact that greatly affected the Native Americans. However, the positive impacts beat the negative impact.
Foods like apples, lettuce, bananas, citrus fruit, and olives were all brought over to the New World from Europe. New foods like these can't have a negative effect on people, but they can have a positive effect. They are all healthy and great options for Native Americans to eat. In Document 1, it shows the items brought over from Europe into the New World. In addition to the food brought over, animals were brought as well. Some of the animals brought over from Europe were cattle, horses, pigs, and chickens. These animals were a great contribute to the positive impact of the Columbian Exchange. For example, cattle were beneficial to the New World because they were a source of meat …show more content…
The Europeans brought measles, malaria, and smallpox to the New World. Document 2 is a graph of the ¨Native American Population of Central Mexico¨. It shows the major decrease in the population of Native Americans from the years 1500 to 1620. The estimated populated in the year 1519 was 22 million, however the estimated population of Central Mexico by 1600 was 1 million. There weren't any treatments for these diseases, so Native Americans continued to die. Although this was a very negative impact on the New World, it didn't continue to impact the world, unlike the positive impacts. The food and animals brought over from Europe are still being used today and helping the society