Unit 3 DBQ
The Columbian Exchange was a large time period in history that caused the spread of culture, disease, and slaves across the entire world. The Americas in specific were heavily affected by the Columbian Exchange within c.1500-1750 CE. There were many positive as well as negative effects that left a permanent impact on the Americas.
To begin, the Columbian Exchange led to many European diseases reaching the Americas. People who were native to the Americas did not have strong enough immune systems to easily overcome the new European diseases, so there was mass death and suffering. For example, smallpox was spread to the Americas. In the Florentine Codex, smallpox was described to be an incredibly miserable and indomitable disease. “The disease brought great desolation: a great many died of it. They could no longer walk about, but lay in their dwellings and sleeping places, no longer able to move…The pustules that covered people caused great desolation; very many people died of them, and many just starved to death; starvation reigned, and no one took care of others any longer” (Document #1). This primary source reinforces the understanding that the Americas were very hurt by the Columbian Exchange.
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It also increased the demand for cheap labor in the Americas. This resulted in a larger use of slaves and lead to the transatlantic slave trade. As suggested in “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas'', over twelve million people from Africa were forcibly moved to the Americas and forced to work as slaves. Before the Columbian Exchange, slaves were rarely utilized in the Americas, but due to the increase in production of valued crops like sugarcane and coffee, they became the number one location for the use of slavery. Without the Columbian Exchange this would not have