...Samantha Harris April 4, 2014 The Columbian Exchange Columbus’s Voyage played a pivotal role in History because it lead to the exchange of goods, people and ideas, between the Old World and the World, which has been termed the Columbian Exchange or the Great Exchange, devised by historian Alfred Crosby, of the University of Texas. Many new and different goods were exchanged between parts of the Earth and transformed Europe and American ways of life. Everyone today knows that Florida is famous for our oranges, and as a matter of fact it is our official state fruit and is a major part of Florida’s economy. However, did you know that before Columbus and the Columbian Exchange, oranges did not exist in the Americas? The orange plant is believed to be native to Asia. I believe that It’s Important to understand the Columbian Exchange, because understanding the Columbian Exchange helps us understand the forces that shape the world , as we know it today. This essay will specifically focus on the impact the Columbian Exchange had on Europe in regards to newly introduced plants. New plants impacted Europe in a very positive way by increasing Europe’s population tremendously and also creating economic stimulation which make this country a very powerful country. Newly introduced plants also had some negative impacts, not on Europe but on slaves. New plants associated with the Columbian Exchange had a huge impact on the population of Europe. The Old World received bountiful...
Words: 888 - Pages: 4
...The Columbian Exchange int he 16th century was a major change in world history. The Columbian Exchange involved the introduction of American crops to Europe and Afro-Eurasia which improved the nutritional diets of populations. The Columbian Exchange also carried diseases that killed off most of the Indigenous population in the Americas. However, the use of coerced labor as a form of labor organization stayed the same before and after the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange involved American crops such as poatoes being carried to Europe. Before the Columbian Exchange, people had to rely on local crop and their diets were not very varied. After the Columbian Exchange, the introduction of crops from the Americas would mean people could farm both their local crops and...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
...The Columbian Exchange is the exchange of plants, animals, disease, and technologies from America to anywhere in the world through voyages (Bulliet, 478). The Atlantic World was made up of four continents North America, South America, Europe, and Africa (American World Lecture). Plants were a major product for exchange on the Columbian Exchange. Some of the plants traded from Southern Europe to America include Wheat, olives grapes, and garden vegetables. There was also plant being traded from Africa and Asia those crops include rice, bananas, coconuts, breadfruit, and sugar (Bulliet, 479). Experts came up with the statistics that state the population after 1700 was caused by the spread of these crops (Bulliet, 480) Another key item of trade was animals. Those animals include cattle, pigs, horses, and sheep (Bulliet, 480). Old World livestock spread the fastest in areas where environmental changes were intense. Of all the animals traded the horses had the greatest effect on the native people (Bulliet, 480). Along with all the benefits in the trading of animals also came consequences. Some of those Consequences include the spread of pest for example rats and rabbits, that reproduce at a rapid rate...
Words: 325 - Pages: 2
...Drastically Impacted World History has been impacted by so many civilizations and trade it is quite unbelievable. Yet, what is a great example of World History being impacted? A good example of World History being impacted or altered is the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange is not just about the mere exchange of trades and goods. It includes the idea that the Europeans changed the very culture of many people in different areas. For one, the Europeans brought a smallpox epidemic to the America’s, which almost wiped out the people living there. This is not the only way Europeans impacted other civilizations. Many people living in China received many new crops. One crop in particular is the potato. The potato will eventually become important...
Words: 1242 - Pages: 5
...Influence of the Columbian Exchange History of Colonial Latin America Prof. Young Maria Gabriela Garcia The Columbian Exchange has been one of the most significant and influential events in the history of the world, concerning mainly of the widespread exchange of plants, animals, human population, diseases, ideas and technology. This term refers to the exchanges occurred between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after 1492, Columbus’ voyages. Overall, the Columbian Exchange made a huge impact on both the Old World and the New World, including changes in production of crops, spread of diseases, and migration. The plants that comprised the Columbian Exchange, changed both the economy and the culture in the Old and New World....
Words: 979 - Pages: 4
...The Columbian Exchange is defined as “the transatlantic flow of goods and people that began with Columbus’s voyages in 1492” (Foner A-58). I, however, believe that definition is an oversimplification of such an important time period that would forever influence the course of the world and begin the age of globalization. The Columbian Exchange would have massive cultural, economic, and biological impacts so profound that they reach every corner of the globe today. The Columbian Exchange altered “millions of years of evolution” due to the introduction of foreign species of plants and animals. Colonists, explorers, and treasure seekers alike unknowingly threw the biological world into a state of chaos. There was a beneficial exchange of crops...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...many key events that shaped the world today took place. Including, the exploration of trade routes to Asia from Europe, the rise of capitalism and mercantilism, demographic recovery from the Bubonic Plague, but the most important event was the Columbian Exchange. The demographic and environmental effects of the Columbian Exchange, between 1492 to 1750, on the Americas are similar to that of Europe, in terms of introduction of crops and the movement of native people, yet they differ when discussing the change in the population. A similarity between the environmental effects of the Columbian Exchange between Europe and the Americas, was the introduction of new crops and livestock. The new crops came from both Europe...
Words: 1229 - Pages: 5
...In this short video John Green talks about changes that came about from the old world to the new. He does this referencing a history book by Alfred Cosby Jr. known as “The Columbian Exchange”. The Columbian Exchange is biological and cultural exchanges between the Old world and New world. There are many exchanges ranging from plants to technology. “While native people, plants, and animals were being displaced in the Americas, the rest of the world was benefitting from American imports, especially foods like maize, tomatoes, potatoes, pineapple, blueberries, sweet potatoes, and manioc.” Some social effects of the Columbian Exchange in the New World were the advancement in agricultural production and increased mortality rates are just two examples...
Words: 369 - Pages: 2
...The Columbian Exchange is a period where there is culture and biological exchanges between the new and old world. This was an exchange of plants, animals, diseases and technology which transformed Europeans and Native Americans way of life. This had all began when Columbus made his discovery on 1942. From then on, an exchange of ideas and education began and lasted for years throughout the expansion and discovery of the new world. This exchange, not only impacted the cultural makeup of the world but changed the social makeup on both sides of the Atlantic. One of the greater outcomes of the Columbian exchange would be the technology advances. Due to the exchange, technology had made leaps in advancement in the 15th and 16th century. Europe was an economic and technological power compared to the Native Americans they encountered in the New World. (Technology) When Europe colonized the new world, they...
Words: 809 - Pages: 4
...The widespread exchange of everything known and seen today in the modern world is a direct result of the legacy that is the Columbian Exchange. When Christopher Columbus voyaged and found a means to connect the Old and New Worlds, the events of transportation of goods in exchange for goods were popular and normalized in the Old World. Even today, we see the lasting effects of this exchange in ways that the average person will often overlook. From tangible goods like foods, plants, animals, and technology to conceptual goods such as language, metrics, cultures, and ideologies, the Old World was rich with a wealth of knowledge that was ready to be shared. Paying close attention to tools used to simplify and enrich lives, most of what we note...
Words: 1304 - Pages: 6
... The Columbian Neo-Indian Exchange What have been is what will be, and what has been done, is what will be done and there is nothing that will reverse it. The incipient world as we know it has been undergoing a drastic era for biological globalization since the landing of the Europeans between the fifteen and the eighteen century. This era is known as the Columbian exchange and commenced in the year 1492 when Christopher Columbus and his crew sailed the Atlantic, exploring more advantages. Beckles & Shepherd suggest in his book Liberties lost, “that the European’s instinct was to reach Asia by sailing deep into the Western Atlantic. His quest was to find Asia, craving for the riches of Asia. Lost in the Caribbean Sea, he found indigenous people of Bahamas whose posture of welcome ushered into a global era.” (2004, p.35) Columbus’ first voyage was one of revelation in which he took the prospect to explore much places as he can. As history tells us, he made a series of voyages scooping new discoveries and engagements with the people who he encountered with on his journey. He first landed in the Bahamas. Columbus took with him soldiers, conquistador, murders, farmers and people of all classes who were moved by greed, and thirst for a better future. In this essay we will take an explicit look into the Columbian exchange, how it affect the Indian society, its impact on the old and new world. “The Columbian exchange” can be described as the exchange of plants, increase...
Words: 2427 - Pages: 10
...The Columbian Exchange created more of a positive impact than a negative impact on the world. One piece of evidence that proves this is from the document “The Effects of Columbus" and says, “It allowed ecologies and cultures that had previously been separated by oceans to mix in new and unpredictable ways”. This evidence supports my claim because it explains 2 completely different continents and cultures to become connected as one in the world. This united them, this allowed trade through both continents, and it allowed new goods to be found in the new world. It also explains that the two continents were now brought together which allowed for colonization of the new world allowing for more opportunity for people in Europe who were unable to make a life for themselves in Europe to come to the new world and start fresh there and beagle to become wealthy and make a good life for them and their families, which would not have been possible back in Europe....
Words: 489 - Pages: 2
...When Christopher Columbus and his crew reached the shores of the Americas, the two biologically different parts of the world came together. The cultural and biological cultures of these two worlds, Old and New, begin to mix with each other, and the process was known as the Columbian Exchange. There were three major exchanges that signifies the importance of the Columbian Exchange, animals, crops, and diseases. Due to their biological reasons, New Worlds and Old Worlds had different types of animals that were settled in the particular areas. The New World had only a handful of animals that could help with their labor, such as dogs, camels, and guinea pigs. The Columbia Exchange brought horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs to the New World....
Words: 403 - Pages: 2
...villain. Christopher Columbus is a hero because without him discovering the Dominican Republic he wouldn't have open the gateway for exploration into the new world. The gateway for exploration in the new world was great because it brought over many things that weren't native to this land. For example Cattle, Horses, Rats, Sugar, Wheat, and etc. This gateway was called the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange didn't just bring animals and food it also brought diseases such as smallpox, Influenza, Measles. These diseases almost wiped out the Native American population, but there was another reason their population diminished but we'll get into that later. Even though I don't want to admit it without Christopher Columbus the Triangular Trade might have never happened and that would've meant slaves wouldn't have been taking from Africa and brought to the United States and that means African American people...
Words: 566 - Pages: 3
...The articles “New World, New Foods,” by Tom Standage, “America, Found and Lost,” by Charles C. Mann, and “Food Assimilation and the Malleability of the Human Body in Early Virginia” all examine how the pre and post Columbian exchange have affected and continue to influence nations today. The effects of the Columbian exchange were so widespread that, it “… redefined the demographics of the Americas, Africa, and Europe…” as Standage argues throughout his article “New World, New Foods” (Standage 112). He begins his argument by chronicling the journey of two specific crops as they spread between the Old and New worlds. Sugar is one example; it became a staple across the world and played an integral part of two major trade triangles. The first included commodities from America including sugar, which was then traded for cloth, and was then traded for slaves that would produce sugar. The second included molasses which was used to produce rum and was then sold for slaves who produced the rum and sugar. Therefore, the cultivation of sugar forever changed the demographics of the Americas and Africa economically....
Words: 648 - Pages: 3
