Nicole Myers Professor Richard Harnack World History 18 September 2014 The Columbian Exchange The Columbian Exchange greatly influenced modern world history. The eastern hemisphere, western hemisphere and Oceania lived in clearly separated areas. The Columbian Exchange blurred those lines by bringing flora, fauna, and diseases into areas that had never experienced them before. Epidemic diseases caused population deteriorations but the Columbian Exchange was not a complete disaster to society. Along with these diseases also came the exchange of food crops and animals. It also initiated the spread of the human population. The Columbian Exchange permanently altered the world’s human geography and natural environment which lead to what it is today. …show more content…
In 1519, smallpox had killed away the Aztec Empire but it was not simply just smallpox, it was often a combination of other diseases. Also within a centuries time the population of Mexico fell by 90 percent. This shocking percentage took the population of 17 million people down to only 1.3 million. When Spanish conquerors came to rule Mexico, the political, social, and cultural traditions had vanished and what was left fell under Spanish control. By the 1530’s, smallpox had spread north to the Great Lakes and south to Argentina. Between 1500 and 1800, around 100 million people may have died because of these diseases brought upon by the Columbian Exchange that caused the worst demographic disaster in all of world …show more content…
By the eighteenth century maize and potatoes had become a staple in Eurasian diets which caused an increase in calories. Since China had eco-niches which was unsuitable for the production of rice and millet, maize became an important crop. Potatoes eventually took over most of northern Europe because of its nutritional value. American beans added protein to European diets and tomatoes and peppers added vitamins and more flavoring in Western Europe all the way to China. In tropical Southeast Asian and West African soils peanuts and manioc were received well. With the exchange of all these crops, effective medical treatments came about when it proved vital to Europeans that bark from the Peruvian cinchona tree treated