Columbian Exchange Effects
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The Columbian Exchange was an exchange of people, animals, crops, disease and culture between the New World, the Americas, and the Old World, consisting of Europe, Asia and Africa. Dubbed the Columbian Exchange after Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas in 1492, this exchange lasted until the mid 1700s. This exchange indisputably changed the course of history by connecting the New and Old World and blending their many cultures together. However, this blending of cultures inevitably lead to disputes between the Europeans and the Native Americans, who were inhabitants of the New World. Because of the tragedy the Native Americans faced, the Columbian Exchange was harmful to the New World, but benefitted the Old World enormously because
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When the Natives were conquered, the precious metals they owned, such as gold and silver, were taken from them (Crosby). The Europeans were able to profit off of this, especially because of the Silver Circuit, which was a global network flow of silver (Morillo). Secondly, the Native Americans, who simply lived a different lifestyle from those in the Old World, were seen as “barbarians” and “savages,” by the Europeans. This is probably because, at the time, the Europeans thought that anyone different from them were savages or barbarians. Because the Native Americans were seen as barbarians, the Europeans thought that the Native Americans could be civilized by converting them to Christianity (Morillo). By converting Native Americans to Christianity, some Europeans believed they were assuming greater control over the Native Americans or “taming them” (Crosby). By converting the Native Americans to Christianity, the Native Americans lost their traditional religious and cultural practices. Next, disease was brought from the Old World to the New World. Many diseases such as yellow fever, the measles, whooping Cough, chicken pox, influenza, and deadliest, small pox, originated from …show more content…
First, the New World received an influx of new foods. For example, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, tobacco, beans, vanilla and most importantly, the potato, were brought to Europe. Many of these new crops could be farmed then sold, but more so than that, these crops increased the diversification of the European diet, which lead to substantial popular growth and a healthier society (Morillo). The potato however, had the most substantial impact on the Old World. The potato, a better source of nutrition than wheat, lead to population growth in southern China and northeastern Europe. The potato was convenient because it grew in cool and wet regions. Additionally, the potato grew underground, so the crop was rarely damaged by armies that passed over them (Morillo). Next, the Europeans were able to colonize the New World, which became a further source of economic development. In the colonies in the New World, most of the labor was done by slaves, increasing the economic benefit of the Old World nations. Additionally, the Americas contained many warm, tropical islands in the Caribbean, which were ideal for growing Old World crops such as sugarcane. This further increased economic opportunity for countries in the Old World. On the contrary, the Old World was negatively affected by the Columbian Exchange because Syphilis was brought back from the New World. Syphilis, a sexually transmitted
When the Natives were conquered, the precious metals they owned, such as gold and silver, were taken from them (Crosby). The Europeans were able to profit off of this, especially because of the Silver Circuit, which was a global network flow of silver (Morillo). Secondly, the Native Americans, who simply lived a different lifestyle from those in the Old World, were seen as “barbarians” and “savages,” by the Europeans. This is probably because, at the time, the Europeans thought that anyone different from them were savages or barbarians. Because the Native Americans were seen as barbarians, the Europeans thought that the Native Americans could be civilized by converting them to Christianity (Morillo). By converting Native Americans to Christianity, some Europeans believed they were assuming greater control over the Native Americans or “taming them” (Crosby). By converting the Native Americans to Christianity, the Native Americans lost their traditional religious and cultural practices. Next, disease was brought from the Old World to the New World. Many diseases such as yellow fever, the measles, whooping Cough, chicken pox, influenza, and deadliest, small pox, originated from …show more content…
First, the New World received an influx of new foods. For example, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, tobacco, beans, vanilla and most importantly, the potato, were brought to Europe. Many of these new crops could be farmed then sold, but more so than that, these crops increased the diversification of the European diet, which lead to substantial popular growth and a healthier society (Morillo). The potato however, had the most substantial impact on the Old World. The potato, a better source of nutrition than wheat, lead to population growth in southern China and northeastern Europe. The potato was convenient because it grew in cool and wet regions. Additionally, the potato grew underground, so the crop was rarely damaged by armies that passed over them (Morillo). Next, the Europeans were able to colonize the New World, which became a further source of economic development. In the colonies in the New World, most of the labor was done by slaves, increasing the economic benefit of the Old World nations. Additionally, the Americas contained many warm, tropical islands in the Caribbean, which were ideal for growing Old World crops such as sugarcane. This further increased economic opportunity for countries in the Old World. On the contrary, the Old World was negatively affected by the Columbian Exchange because Syphilis was brought back from the New World. Syphilis, a sexually transmitted