Negative Effects Of The Columbian Exchange

The columbian exchange started in 1492 and lasted until 1800 which is a pretty large time span. The columbian exchange started when Columbus brought the western and eastern hemispheres back together again. Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who landed three ships on an island in the caribbean. He explored many islands there including a large one many people called Hispaniola. On the big island he found the people called Taino people who grew crops such as manioc, tobacco, sweet potatoes and peanuts which he had not seen back where he was from. On Hispaniola he established a settlement where he left around 40 men then went back to Spain to report everything he saw on his journey. At first Columbus thought that he had reached the indies

These people brought diseases that these native peoples didn’t have immunities to or even ways to treat these diseases with medication or other ways that were used. Examples of diseases that were spread are measles, influenza, whooping cough, small pox and mumps. These diseases soon turned into childhood diseases that were believed to have killed around ¼-½ of children before the age of 6 years old. Also because of these diseases lots of crops died that were important to the natives daily lives. All of this caused many problems and changes to the environment which in turn negatively affected these people. The Columbian Exchange helped reduce poverty, and people no longer had to worry about hunger as much when they found a plant that grew food for them rather than searching for your food. From my research I found some facts that were interesting from two different websites. * #1. Before the Columbian Exchange there was no coffee in Columbia, no chocolate in Switzerland, and no pineapples in Hawaii. #2. Old World animals expanded the food supply in the New