The Impact Of The Columbian Exchange

Columbian Exchange is a concept coined by Alfred Crosby Jr. in 1972 to describe the movement of plants, animals, and illnesses from the Old World of Europe and Africa to the New World of the Americas (Horgan). In 1492, Christopher Columbus embarked on a journey to Asia from the West and unknowingly made one of the most significant discoveries in world history. Little did he know that his exploration would lead to The Columbian Exchange, which changed the world's economy by introducing new diseases, plants, and animals to the Americas and Europe, ultimately altering the course of human history forever. This exchange not only had an impact on the economy but also influenced social and cultural changes, leading to the more interconnected and

They brought other things like tobacco, cacao, and cotton, which became very valuable over the years. Cacao bean was grated into a powder and mixed into water and created a bitter drink. The Spanish added sugar and honey to alleviate the bitterness, and in the next hundred years, as it spread throughout Europe, vanilla was added to the mixture producing a new luxury item: chocolate (Horgan). Tobacco, also known as one of the world's most important drugs, has resulted in many smoking products which lead to death around the world. The farmers in the Americas used to give the other continents staples, some of them included corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tobacco.The potato had the greatest impact on Europe affecting both their diet and lifespan. Potatoes consist of essential vitamins and nutrients, and they can grow in a wide range of soils. The Columbian Exchange had both positive and negative impacts. The people already living in the Americas suffered many epidemics following contact with Europeans, and the death toll was massive. Slave labor was a common issue on the ship, many native americans were employed through slavery and the Spanish system of “encomienda,” which granted a personal responsibility to a certain number of