Columbian Exchange 1492

The Columbian Exchange had major effects on both European societies and also the native societies, eventually changing both of their lives drastically forever. As The Europeans came and settled in America throughout the late 1400s and early 1500s they concorded America as their own, this would drastically change the European societies forever. As a result of the new settlements Native Americans would be pushed and moved out of their homeland as well. The new European settlements grew larger and larger over the mid 1500s.

The Columbian Exchange is referred to as a time of natural and social trades between the New and Old Worlds. Trades of plants, illness and disease, animals and new technology changed European and Native American lifestyles. Advancements in technology, production of agriculture and warfare, expanded death rates and education are a few reasons of the impact of the Columbian Exchange on both Europeans and the Americas. Americans were, and wherever they originated from, referred to as Paleo-Indians. Asians moved over a land bridge known as Beringia in the middle of Russia and Alaska at some point toward the end of the last Ice Age.

In conclusion, if not for the Columbian Exchange, cinnamon rolls would not have been introduced to the world. This mouthwatering treat would not have been brought together without the Columbian Exchange. For instance, the flour in the cinnamon rolls comes from ground wheat. Wheat came from Europe and was transported to the old world. Sugar, which is derived from the sugar cane, that originated in Europe.

1. Explain how and why people moved within the Americas before contact with Europeans. How did the introduction of new plants, animals, and technologies alter the natural environment of North America and affect interactions among various groups and tribes? Within the Americas, people would often travel on foot between their destinations in order to find new land that they could settle on and farm.

Throughout the Age of Exploration, trade and colonialist desires ruled the world. After Christopher Columbus's journey to the New World in 1492, the Columbian exchange progressed rapidly, bringing enormous changes to both the old and new worlds. Despite the positive contributions such as horses and new types of food, the Columbian exchange also brought a multitude of illnesses including the deadly smallpox (1). Although Thomas Bailey argued in the American Pageant that the “Black Legend” is inaccurate, it is clear that the devastation brought upon the Native Americans proves its accuracy through the erasure of identity, the spread of epidemics, and the immoral crimes that the Spaniard colonialists committed against the native population.

Immediately following Columbus ' arrival in the New World in 1492, a mass exchange of people, animals, and microscopic life between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres began. This transition brought about extremely dramatic consequences because the Old and New Worlds had previously been completely isolated from each other. Although there were some insignificant results of this exchange, such as certain species of animals and plants taking over foreign ecosystems, there were also devastating ramifications; namely, perilous diseases. The Europeans were immune to the diseases which they introduced to the Natives. This created a virgin soil epidemic, which is an outbreak in which the afflicted had not been exposed to before.

Columbus's expedition arrived October 12, 1492 to the Antilles. The December 5, 1492 Columbus reached the island of the Spanish, now divided into two countries, Haiti and Dominican Republic, and established the first European settlement in the New World. Later on several trips, the Spanish were exploring and establishing small colonies, first in the archipelago of the Antilles, then in the mainland, ie the Americas. The conquests shape Spanish influence in Europe in different way. The gold and silver that was brought to Spain from the New World, was going no where because Spain was not getting any richer.

I don’t think that the benefits of exploration outweighed its consequences. Even though exploring the New World was an excellent idea, there were consequences. The Columbian exchange brought food, animals, and new plants. Native Americans died from diseases and illness.

The benefits did outweigh the consequences. To start off, I have three topics to support/back up my conclusion that the benefits did outweigh the consequences. Next, the Columbian Exchange. The Native Americans gave the Europeans gold and silver. They also gave them corn, potatoes, beans, vanilla, chocolate, tobacco, and cotton.

The Columbian Exchange was the process of exchanging animals, agriculture, and diseases. The most important change that I believe occurred was the agriculture exchange. The old world introduced more tropical fruits than what was available as well as grains. They brought over cash crops such as sugar and coffee beans because in Europe those were the crops that were priced the highest. In fact, it was so lucrative to grow sugar in the Carribean, they imported all of their food out so they had more room to grow it.