Negative Effects Of Christopher Columbus

Besides the three ships, do you know what else Christopher Columbus brought to the new world? Discovering America led to other major benchmarks. Columbus’ legacy goes beyond discovering the new world. Some of his contributions were positive, like finding the New World ("Christopher Columbus," Explorers), and some were tragic, like carrying over diseases ("The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food and Ideas”).
Christopher Columbus’ love for exploring started in May 1476 at the age of 9. He was a crew member on a ship that left the Greek islands and headed for Lisbon. While in Lisbon, he learned mathematics and astronomy. In 1477, he sailed to Iceland and in 1478 he was on a ship that sailed to the island of Madeira. That voyage was meant as a trading mission but unfortunately was unsuccessful ("Christopher Columbus," Explorers). During that time, Portugal was sending ships further south to the coast of Africa. The idea was …show more content…
It set in motion the flow of people, plants, animals, foods, and unfortunately horrible diseases from Europe to the New World. This is also known as the Columbian Exchange. The Native Americans received horses, chickens and other livestock. Along with that they got wheat and coffee from the exchange while the Europeans acquired potatoes, tomatoes, and corn (Effects of European Colonization: Christopher Columbus and Native Americans). The exchange also brought many negatives to the Native American population such as smallpox, measles and cholera. In return, Columbus’ sailors brought back syphilis to the European population (Nunn and Nancy Quinn). It’s fair to say the exchange rewarded more benefits to the Europeans and eventually to the rest of the world. The Columbian Exchange not only transformed the cultures of the Native American people but also denied the world of their true existence (Effects of European Colonization: Christopher Columbus and Native