Columbian Exchange Research Paper

Words: 862
Pages: 4

The Columbian Exchange was a maritime trade network that transferred plants, animals, and people and connected Afro-Eurasia and the Americas. Europeans desired to expand their empires and riches over new lands, and technological advancements such as the astrolabe and the compass helped settlers’ exploration. However, Europeans faced backlash from certain traders when they attempted to expand their trade. For example, competition grew between Muslim traders in Oman and Portuguese traders when the Portuguese wanted to establish trade settlements in the Indian Ocean, resulting in the Omani-European Rivalry. As a result, European travelers, such as Christopher Columbus, sought to find a new route to India. When Columbus and his voyagers discovered the …show more content…
Previous exposures to these diseases in the Afro-Eurasia world made Europeans immune to their symptoms. This harmed the people in the Americas because the sharp decline of the native population made it easier for the European colonists to take advantage of their resources and colonize the remaining people. The spread of disease is similar to the Bubonic Plague because rat-infested ships coming from Central Asian trade routes such as the Silk Road trade spread the plague rapidly once they arrived in trading ports. The plague first hit big cities and later expanded into the countryside, devastating the nonimmune populations in Europe, Asia, and North Africa—similar to how the natives couldn’t defend themselves from the contagious diseases of the Europeans. The Columbian Exchange impacted the peoples in the Americas because it led to the combining of European and Native American cultures and religions. As Europeans traveled to the Americas, they were motivated to spread the faith of Christianity to the “uncivilized”