Negative Effects Of The Columbian Exchange

Historians estimate that around ninety percent of the first Americans had died in between 1492 and 1650, the era of Columbian Exchange (Nunn, Qian). This loss is still considered to be one of the largest and the most horrifying demographic disasters in human history (Nunn, Qian). The massive transfer of plants, animals, ideas, people, and disease between the Old World and the New World was the cause for this disaster and many other dramatic transformations made in America. The Columbian Exchange had more negative than positive effects on America, as this exchange greatly benefited the Europeans and their colonies while bringing catastrophe to the environment, the people, ideas, and the culture of America.

When Columbus landed in the Americas

When two different worlds joined together, one was almost demolished (Nunn, Qian). The introduction of new plants, new animals, and new ways of production negatively affected the methods of food production and the lands of America. First of all, the English colonists came to settle down on the American land, some seeking religious freedom, others sent as indentured servants, and others to seeking to obtain profit from the new land (Mintz, McNeil). These permanent settlements reshaped the land according to the ideal styles of European agriculture (Mintz, McNeil). In order to efficiently make profit out of farming and selling, the Europeans made plantations for cash crops like tobacco and sugar (Nunn, Qian). To create these huge plantations, they had to clear out massive amount of land by stripping and burning forests (Crosby). This harmed the environment of America and destroyed millions of acres of forest (Mintz, McNeil). The Europeans also unintentionally introduced weeds to the land, which invaded crops by reducing farm and forest productivity (Mintz, McNeil). This led to a disorder of the native agriculture system and the replacement of the native plants by the plants from the Old World, permanently transforming the American environment (MWL). The introduction of new animals also brought negative consequences because cattle, goats, horses, sheep, and other new grazing animals ate up indigenous