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Similarities Between Christopher Columbus And The Americas

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The European world made contact with the Americas and Africa in the relatively same time period. Christopher Columbus discovering America in 1492 and Portugal establishing a trade connection with Kongo in 1483 (Traditions and Encounters, 413 and 606). The two main similarities of their reasons for establishing a presence in the Americas and Africa were for trade and to spread Christianity. The main trade route during this time period connecting the eastern and western hemisphere was the Columbian exchange; named after Christopher Columbus's expedition. The goods received from the Americas included maize, potato, tomato, chocolate, peanut, pumpkin, squash, beans, tobacco, chilies, and avocados. Obviously cash crops with the addictive nature of tobacco were a huge hit in Europe and …show more content…

This was very common at the time to do. A huge part of trade for Europe was not only to receive goods but to imprint their culture, ideology, and “superiority” until it was spread across the globe. and was also done by the Portuguese when they established trade with Kongo. The king of Kongo at the ended up converting to Christianity, but this was only to please the Portuguese and establish better business with them (Traditions and Encounters, 413). Africa had a rich amount of gold, ivory, and slaves to offer the Europeans in exchange for modern medicine and other goods. Africa received very good trades in return versus the Americas for the most part. Which brings light to the main difference between the impact of Europe on the Americas and Africa. The Americas were colonized much earlier than Africa. The main reason for this is disease. The Americas did not have many diseases and had extremely weak immunity to all of the European diseases such as smallpox and

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