APUSH
Curtis
The Colombian exchange was a major interchange of foods, crops, ideas, cultures, technologies, diseases, languages and many more following Columbus’ voyage in 1492. The Colombian exchange began when Christopher Columbus discovered America and decided to trade goods between the new and the old world (Europe and America). It had crucial effects of both, Europeans and the Native Americans, improvement in the agricultural output being one of the examples.
Both, the lives of Native Americans and the Europeans were impacted by the Colombian Exchange. Europe didn’t have tomato sauce for their dishes, but after the Colombian Exchange, foods like tomatoes were introduced to the Europeans. The main goods to be exchanged between the Americas and Europe were foods, crops and animals. The Native Americans received millet, oats, barley, wheat and rye. Wheat and rye are used in the process of making bread, one of the most consumed foods in America today. The Natives didn’t benefit as much as the Europeans did, but instead they got their land taken by the Europeans. Meanwhile, they received new weapons from the Europeans, which modernized their warfare.
Along with all the new foods from Europe, infectious diseases were brought along with them. The population of the Natives descended because of the communication that had been established between the two lands. As Europeans approached the Americas, the cold acted as a filter for the diseases, so many were not affected by it. Diseases such as malaria, smallpox were dramatically infecting the people in the Old World. Many people migrated west of Eurasia with animals, which infected the two continents. While Europeans and Asians were suffering from the Eurasian diseases, over centuries, many people acquired immunity.
Slavery came in play when the diseases that