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Great Biological Exchange

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The great biological exchange

The many effects of one culture encountering another for the first time can be hard to account for. It doesn’t happen like it used to in this global society we currently live in. However a long time ago it was a tremendous ordeal for so many reasons. One of the most pivotal and historic occurrences of one culture of humans encountering another is called “The great biological exchange”.
It’s termed the biological exchange because the effects of the phenomena weren’t just the plethora of diseases (America, 25) that the Europeans brought with them but also the animals and plants. The effects of this event can be seen to this day by looking at the non-indigenous flora and fauna (America, 23) across the Americas.
While “The great biological exchange” caused a whole variety of occurrences, it is most noted for the amount of deaths it caused. The death tolls it accumulated everywhere the Europeans went. In the densely populated area of central Mexico the casualties are said to have been near 8 million (America, 25). In northern America the indigenous people had an overall smaller population and less concentrated inhabitants. Regardless they experienced a devastating onslaught of diseases that they had no immunity or cure for.
While the native peoples of new world were being ravaged by diseases the …show more content…

It undoubtedly would be different in many ways had the Indians been capable of driving the colonizers to alternative locations. But “the great biological exchange” made the whole chain of events go much smoother for the colonizers. Having such ideal growing conditions and a stunned native population the new world quickly become a modern nation. Free from the traditional monarchy system it flourished into a unique and unprecedented destination for immigrants. This was absolutely due to the expedient acclimation the colonizers experienced due to “the great biological

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