The Consequences Of The Columbian Exchange

Historians differ on what they think about the net result of the European arrival in the New World. Considering that the Columbian Exchange, which refers to “exchange of plants, animals, people, disease, and culture between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas after Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492,” led to possibly tens of millions of deaths on the side of the American Indians, but also enabled agricultural and technological trade (Henretta et al. 42), I cannot help but reflect on whether the effects should be addressed as a historical or a moral question. The impact that European contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be understood as a moral question because first, treating it as a historical question is difficult due to lack of reliable historical evidence; second, the meaning of compelling historical claims is contestable as the academic historian perspective tends to view the American Indian oral history as invalid; and finally, what happened to the native Indians is morally repulsive and must be discussed as such. The consequences of European contact should be answered as a moral question because historically, it is hard to be historically objective in the absence of valid and dependable historical evidence.

During the early 15th century, there were thousands of groups of people with distinct cultures and languages spread across the Americas. Their lifestyles varied from hurters to farmers. Because of the diversity and complexity, civilizations rose and fell even before Christopher Columbus’s voyage. When Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, there were about 50 million people living on the Americas. Their lives drastically changed from the arrival of the Europeans.

The Columbian Exchange refers to the monumental transfer of goods such as: ideas, foods, animals, religions, cultures, and even diseases between Afroeurasia and the Americas after Christopher Columbus’ voyage in 1492. The significance of the Columbian Exchange is that it created a lasting tie between the Old and New Worlds that established globalization and reshaped history itself (Garcia, Columbian Exchange). Worlds that had been separated by vast oceans for years began to merge and transform the life on both sides of the Atlantic (The Effects of the Columbian Exchange). This massive exchange of goods gave rise to social, political, and economic developments that dramatically impacted the world (Garcia, Columbian Exchange). During this time,

The Columbian Exchange was the exchange of goods animals and plants from one country to another. The Columbian Exchange had many impacts. Some of them can still be seen today. One example is introduction of new species. Another is the slave trade that happened.

Christopher Columbus and his crew cruised the sea in the year of 1492. Although unintentional, these western explorers were responsible for the revelation of North America . This discovery has been known to be the reason for the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian exchange was the widespread transfer of merchandise For example, animals, plants, culture, human population, and even diseases. With this immense change on the world, came incredible sadness, despair, and negative impacts in the

1. The development of agriculture experienced a diversification among the people of the region. It also experienced in the Northwest an economic development as well as social diversification and the developing of hunting and foraging. 2. Many Native American societies emerged to the North of Mexico.

A New Way of Life: How The Colombian Exchange Made a Difference in Our Lives It’s hard to believe that events that happened centuries ago have a huge impact on the way in which we form our ways of life. The Columbian Exchange was one of those events that still has effect on our lives, today. According to Cory Malone, (“Beginning after Columbus' discovery in 1492 the exchange lasted throughout the years of expansion and discovery”). It was a time period where cultural and biological exchanges were made between the new world and old world.

The Columbian Exchange was a widespread trade of animals, plants, and diseases. This system allowed us to have access to these items in our everyday lives. I have never realized how much we all have taken many items for granted. For instance, If it wasn 't for the Columbian Exchange, I wouldn 't be able stay awake for my morning classes. I drink a cup of coffee every morning in order to get through my morning classes.

Many trades and exchanges throughout history bring very diverse cultures together. Nothing like widespread exchange over two hemispheres had never existed before 1492. Even though the cultures participating in these exchanges were viewed as different since they lived on opposite sides of the globe, they also had many commonalities. The Western Europeans and the East Asians were impacted greatly by the Colombian exchange. The western Europeans destructed and changed most of what they encountered while the East Asians blended and assimilated into the “new” cultures.

The word pre-Columbian is used to discuss the history of the Americas in the era before European impact. Pre-Columbian was frequently used in discussing the abundant civilizations of the Americas. During pre-Columbian America, there was nothing, but wilderness and Indians. There were about thirty thousand square miles of desert. The Indians set fires to the trees to kill the area.

The Voyages of Columbus were very harsh. They never new what could happen while sailing across the world. When they left the dock they had to be certain they had enough food to eat and enough freshwater to drink. At this point in time they thought the Earth was flat so had to make sure they didn’t fall off the edge while exploring. According to my United States History Textbook “Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed to help finance the Journey across the Atlantic”.

The Columbian exchange is exactly what it sounds; it's what the new world and old world gained with the explorations of the America’s. The Columbian exchange sounds like a positive aspects but it carries both negative and positive connotation as the ‘Columbian exchange’ brought diseases, foods, and new ideas following the voyage of the ever-famous Christopher Columbus. The creation of the new world – about 90 percent of the native have disappeared, but “it was exchanges of animal and plants that made the new world possible”. The introduction of the new specifics of foods like, potatoes became essential to the old world, as it can grow In the soil of the old world that has been over used (Nunn). Corn was also brought from the new world to