The Impact Of The Columbian Exchange On The Old World And The New World

The Columbian Exchange, the transportation of plants, animals and diseases, had a dramatic impact on the agriculture and environment of both the Old World and the New World. For the New World, the foods and plants that were brought over were species that had never been seen before. The Europeans brought many grains such as wheat, barley, oats and rice. These products flourished in the rich, fertile soil of the new world. There were endless acres of land in which to grow these plants. Sugarcane especially grew abundantly in the warm, wet climate of the Caribbean. Europeans cleared vast amounts of forests to make way for their plantations and crops. They also brought unintentional plants – weeds that were intermixed in the grain seed (such as dandelion) (Angel, 2012).

They also brought bees for honey but serendipitously the bees were instrumental in pollinated not only the fruit tress but all other plants. (Angel, 2012). These trees grew abundantly in the fertile soil as well. The landscape of America changed dramatically as a result of the clearing of the forest and the creation of vast fields of crops, groves of trees and plantations of sugarcane and later tobacco and cotton. It was also changed due to the domesticated animals the Europeans brought (cattle, cows, and horses) as they roam over vast areas, trampling the land and feeding off the grasses. The Columbian Exchange also had an impact on Europe. Several new foods were introduced to Europe that profoundly changed the diet of several countries; some of the most significant foods being the potato and the tomato. The potato was native to South America, specifically in Peru and Bolivia. It was a major source of food