Discuss The Positive And Negative Effects Of The Columbian Exchange

During the Age of Exploration, two years after Christopher Columbus’s significant find, Spain and Portugal were quarrelling over the newly found “uncivilized world” which would lead to the development of one of the biggest exchanges in the history of the world. Instead of concluding to war, they took a more dignified approach by letting the pope decide the matter (Treaty of Tordesillas). In the 1400s, this was a common practice for countries to resolve issues at the church, because at the time, the pope had more power than kings and queens of Catholic nations (Treaty of Tordesillas). Spain successfully removed all non-Christians from the Iberian Peninsula after hundreds of years, which marked the end of the Spanish Reconquista (Reconquista).

The exchange became known as the Columbian Exchange in honor of Columbus, it was the transfer of different plants, animals, microbes, and people across the Atlantic Ocean to the New and Old Worlds (Wadsworth Cengage Learning 42-44). King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sent out many explorers to the New World which caused both positive and negative effects. The exchange of goods with the Indians in the New World was not just to trade products, but to also transplant them from Africa and Europe to the Americas and also the other way around (The Columbian Exchange). The crops being introduced to the Old World were potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, tomatoes, cacao, and chili peppers (Wadsworth Cengage Learning 43). The crops being introduced to the New World were citrus, grapes, wheat, sugarcane, and rice (Wadsworth Cengage Learning 43).Some exchanges were intentional, like the bringing of crops to grow in suitable environments, but some were unintentional, like the microbes and pests that clung to people, crops, and animals that crossed the Atlantic into new foreign territory (The Columbian Exchange). It had colossal environmental effects that had real consequences for people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Spain hoped to use the warm and tropical

Columbus became an example that was followed by many European explorers and conquerors who were in search for “gold, God, and glory” (Christopher Columbus the Italian Explorer and Dyson 7). The long term effects included the mixing of cultures of people, diseases, food, animals, and new technological advancements. Catastrophically, it is estimated that ninety percent of all Native Americans died as result of contact with Europeans in general (Wadsworth Cengage Learning 43). Though it caused the death of millions of Native Americans, the Spanish ended up advancing the Indians’ tools from the stone age with strong tools made from steel and other metals unknown to the Indians. The African leaders became richer from selling their people, but they were drastically weakened as a whole being put into slavery to work crops in an unknown area for foreigners. The Europeans ultimately benefited from the finding, which increased their economic wealth and prosperity over other surrounding nations. In conclusion, Columbus’s voyage to explore a quicker route to India led to the unimaginable finding of a new world, which greatly impacted Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans both positively and negatively through cultural, technological, and religious advancements that created the foundation of the current