Columbian Exchange Essay

109 Words1 Pages
The Columbian Exchange began after Christopher Columbus's journey in 1492. Columbus’s discovery of the new, unclaimed, fertile, and abundant land of the Americas leads to the settlement of many Europeans searching for new opportunities to thrive and prosper. The new European settlers allowed for a trade network to be established between the Old World and the New World. Opening the trade network introduced new crops, livestock, and disease to the Americas and the Old World. The spread of these new items leads to both an increase and decrease in the populations of their new habitats, as well as a profitable for the people involved in the new trade network.