What was the Columbian Exchange?
According to the Gettysburg website, the Columbian Exchange was the interchange of crops, animals, diseases, technology, plants, architecture, and ideas that were formed between America (New World) and the European countries (Old World) after Christopher Columbus’s expedition to America way back in 1492. Because of Christopher Columbus’s expedition to the new world, the old world received crops from they've never had like sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, cacao, peanuts, cassava and pineapples were introduced to the old world countries like Italy, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries. The exchange between the two worlds acquired both some wins and also some losses. Because of the contact they had with each other, diseases were able to transfer between the two worlds which caused a lot of people to take ill and die. Some of the diseases that were spread to the new world from the old world were bubonic plague, smallpox, measles, chicken pox, whooping cough typhus, and also malaria.
But the new world was far from perfect. The new world managed to transfer syphilis back to the old world and back then they didn’t have a cure causing the disease to be very fatal and more severe than it is now. Now we can just go to the doctor, get a penicillin shot, and were done. They experienced genital ulcers, large tumors, rashes, dementia, severe pain and eventually death. Over time, the disease evolved and its symptoms changed, causing it to become less fatal and it eventually made its way to Russia and Africa. There was also an abundance of new plants discovered in the new world. For example; beans, squash, chili peppers, sunflowers, chenopods, manioc, and avocado.
Back then the two most important plants were the potato and maize. In addition to discovering New World plants, the Old World plants were brought to America and became successful. Among those plants, the most widespread was the sugarcane. Sugarcane is an essential form of sucrose and is used in the diet of almost every culture there is. The sugarcane dated back to about 10,000 years ago when it originated from New Guinea. Christopher Columbus introduced the sugarcane during his second voyage to the new world.
After he introduced it the production picked up in the New World because it was under the plantation system. They learned about plantations because they developed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and eventually the southeastern colonies of North America began planting sugarcane as well. The Columbian Exchange also ended up influencing technology advances in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Europe had more technological power compared to those of the Native Americans. When Europeans crossed the Atlantic they sparked a flow of changes in Native American culture. Some of those changes being the written alphabet, firearm, and weapon capabilities.
The Native Americans didn’t have a formal written language so the Europeans knew it would be hard to get a treaty. The Europeans decided to educate the Natives by teaching them to read and write hoping that would help break down the barriers hoping to integrate cultures. The natives were skeptical about the written language because blood oaths were their highest form of agreement. The Europeans didn’t want to teach them language just for the purpose of trade, but the Europeans wanted to educate the natives by trying to convert them to Christianity. They felt if they had a common religious belief amongst them, it would bond them closer than any written code. The Europeans believed that by teaching them about religion they were educating and changing the natives for the better. The Europeans held Christianity to the highest standard in social importance, and considered conversion an evolution of life.
When it came to weaponry, guns and knives were used for hunting and fishing for the Native Americans. The Natives already had knives, but they were made of obsidian unlike the Europeans whose were made of steel and iron. Before they had guns, spears and hatchets, bows and arrows were the most common weaponry used by the Native Americans. The bow and arrow allowed them to hunt from greater distances, but it couldn’t do the same amount of damage as a gun could. Because of the migration of the Europeans, the Natives also had horses to ride. Natives could now chase down large herds of animals quicker if they wanted and with the guns, they could kill them quickly and with less effort.
The weapons had such an impact on the Native American culture that they became the most traded good between the Europeans and the Natives. The Europeans had a great abundance of weapons and felt that trading them for Indian goods such as labor or crops. They used the native’s fascination with firearms and weapons to exploit them. The Europeans also helped the Natives to build new homes, farms, ships, ranches, and port.
By building new stuff lead in an establishment of the first colonists and native towns. They used tools that were made of steel and iron and by doing that it allowed natives to build stronger homes and allowed European immigrants to build homes with the same quality as they did back in Europe. As more and more homes were built, towns were established and with them they also brought sea ports. The Europeans used their own ships as a model those made in the New World. With the opening of ports and building of ships the New World, was opened to trade and in the near future, the African Slave trade.

Work Cited:
1) Malone, Cory, Sarah Gray, Sean Ross, and Katie Ryan. "The Columbian Exchange." The Columbian Exchange. Gettysburg College, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

Jawanzla Fields
March 10, 2015 Dr. Brian McGowan
History 102: Midterm

What was The Enlightenment?
In history 101 western civilizations with Dr. McGowan, I remember learning that the Enlightenment was a period of intellectual, cultural, and philosophical growth back in the seventeenth and eighteenth century and during this time period three revolutions happened. They were the English Revolution that happened in 1688, the American Revolution that happened in 1775 to 1783, and the French Revolution that happened in 1789 to 1799. During this time people began to believe that all men were equal to one another and that allowed all men a say so in their government. This was a time of progress for us. Before the enlightenment, only the nobles or other higher officials were allowed to have a say or even participate in government, politics, but all that changed when influential people like Johann Sebastian Bach, Denis Diderot, Sir Isaac Newton, Jean-Jacques and John Locke came together.
I don’t remember if we talked about the rest much, but after looking through my notes I recall talking about Jacques and Locke. I remember discussing in class that Jean-Jacques believed mankind would be at its best if it wasn’t chained to society’s “protocol”, and Locke believed that men are all capable people but we must compromise some of our beliefs. The Enlightenment was formed because they wanted everyone to have the same political rights so they could do what was best for the society as a whole, not just for a few people, an individual group, or the people in charge. Back then were you stood in social class determined how you would be treated, and the enlightenment believed that all people's welfares were as important as anyone’s. But the upper class didn’t think so.
The upper classes ruled, and the lower class got nothing. It was unfair to the lower classes of people and in my opinion a rip off and what’s created animosity between rich and poor people even in today’s time. Lucky for the lower class, the changes that came about allowing the poor people much more freedom to do as they please and more of a say in politics and also broke down some of the walls that separated the classes. Jean-Jacques and Locke both felt that the upper two classes (high and middle) were cruel and unjust and that there shouldn’t be any barriers between social classes. Along with the new rights and freedom the Enlightenment Era brought there was also new duties the people had.
After learning about it in class and re-reading about it online I think the Enlightenment Era was an exciting and very interesting time period. With so many different people other than Jean-Jacques and Locke around brought nothing but change to the world. Unlike people today in time, they put others needs as well as theirs on the same level. They didn’t feel as though anybody’s was less important than the others and it was that thinking and those ideas that helped mold us as the society we are today.

Work Cited: 1) Bristow, William. "Enlightenment." Stanford University. Stanford University, 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. 2) Wilde, Robert. "The Enlightenment." About Education. About.com, 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.