Positive And Negative Effects Of The Columbian Exchange: The Americas

Columbian Exchange: The Americas

When European mariners set sail in order to discover new trade routes to the Asia, they stumbled upon an entirely new region. From Columbus landing in the Caribbean, to Cortes landing in what he called New Spain, it opened up even greater possibilities for the people in the Western Hemisphere. The new voyagers began to settle in conquered regions of North, Central, and South America. As they established trade routes and posts, they began to transport and share new cultures and people, animals, crops, and even diseases. This became known as the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange carried with it both positive and negative effects. Such negative effects included illnesses, and buying and selling

Whether already there or newly introduced, the unfamiliar pathogens took a devastating toll on the populations of the indigenous people as well as the settlers. Between the centuries of 1500 to 1800, it was estimated that roughly 100 million people total may have lost their lives to disease (Bentley and Ziegler 382). Although this was looked at as a major population decline at first, it was later found that due to the spread of new food items rich in calories and nutrients, and animals as well, the population was able to survive and make an exceptional comeback. Such items from pineapples to potatoes, and animals such as cattle, pigs, horses and sheep, to name a miniscule few, all contributed to saving populations that otherwise may have been completely lost. Slavery originally had begun in 1441, where Portuguese explorers had taken 12 Africans to Portugal as slave workers (Bentley and Ziegler 440). Although it had started small, the demand for workers in the new plantations grew immensely, as the plantations were producing highly demanded products

They set in motion each nation’s interdependence on one another. Lives were enriched with new nutritional items, immunity to epidemic-inducing illnesses, and cultural diversity. Undoubtedly, one of the most important to our personal and emotional growth was the shared cultures and ways of life. I believe it helped, even though it may have taken awhile in some cases, for humans to appreciate ways different than their own, and to understand that diversity can only contribute to success. Where one group may have been clueless, the other may have had advantages to contribute and be of assistance, and share invaluable products and information. For example, although the Spaniards were originally welcomed by the Aztecs, they captured the emperor, and forced him to swear allegiance to the Spanish King. The Spaniards sent artifacts and valuables back to Spain, where they were admired and sought after, especially by nobles and royalty (Pohl 14). Although a small and somewhat dysfunctional start, the Aztec culture was shared and admired by Europeans. However, all of these turning points in human history, as do most, came at a cost. Specific animal species were hunted to extinction or on the brink due to hunting, countless wars and skirmishes broke out over fierce competition for land and resources, human beings were robbed of their dignity and humanity by having