Christopher Columbus is a famous Italian explorer who set sail in 1492. He and his crew eventually landed in the Americas otherwise known as the “New World”. The Europeans thought of him as a hero, some even describing him as god-like. Columbus’s main focus was money; he did anything he could to profit off of the New World. In order to take the most advantage of the newfoundland Columbus took slaves, farmed the land to depletion, exhausted natural resources and colonized the land.
Initially Columbus took slaves, when he didn't discover gold on his first voyage he took native slaves back to his home land instead. The Queen and King who funded his expedition, opposed native slavery and later on outlawed it. Although slavery was outlawed, using the natives as a workforce was encouraged, for it brought in money. When the Spaniards had exhausted the Native population in the new world, they looked elsewhere to replenish the dying workforce. Africans were more resistant to the diseases devastated the Natives. The Africans were also a attractive option because they were not familiar with the geography of the new world which left them defenseless and unable to escape. This went on long after Columbus’s death, but is arguably entirely his doing. approximately 10 to 15 million Africans were
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Believe it or not, one of the things with the biggest impact was earthworms, the worms altered the whole ecosystem as we know it today. Not only did the Europeans bring many things over seas to the New World, they also took many things out of the New World. The taking of the resources and bringing things to the New World is often referred to as the “Columbian Exchange”. Not only did he bring and take, columbus used the fertile land of the New World in order to grow things in mass quantities in order to profit off of it. Some examples this is tobacco. And more often than not, the Natives were the ones tending to the