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The Impact Of The Columbian Exchange On The New World

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After the discovery of the New World, a new era opened that would come to be known as the Columbian Exchange. With the transfer of plants, animals, culture, diseases, and ideas between Europe and the Americas, good came from the Columbian Exchange which became a possibility after Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492, giving him full credit for this duration. The plants associated with the Columbian Exchange affected the Old and New Worlds by providing success in agriculture as well as technological advancements. First, as explorers came to the New World, they brought over plants such as wheat, rice, and sugarcane. Crops Columbus brought, ones he believed would thrive, grew poorly in the beginning but eventually began to flourish. …show more content…

In addition to agriculture success, new technological advancements came from crop exchangement. New farming equipment , such as the plow, improved the New World’s economy and health. This technology advancement is important because it allowed a large area of land to be cultivated at a time, speeding up the farming process. This enabled towns to be developed around farms from crops being grown at a faster rate and land that could now be cultivated. Another equally important addition to the Columbian Exchange is the transportation of animals. When Europeans came over to the New World, the animals they brought introduced a new way of transportation, a new food source, and a new form of labor. This is beneficial because the diseases that killed the humans, had little to no effect on the animals who were doing well in the new environment. “Horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle were all European animals that flourished rapidly in the Americas because they were able to reproduce without being hindered by predators.” (Ree, Lauren. Columbian Exchange. March 31, 2006) Although there was not as big of an impact on the Old World, the impact on the New World was enormous. A large example of this was horses brought with Columbus in 1493. They served the purpose of transportation and a force of labor that made it easier on the colonists. Native Americans were also afraid of these animals, so during battles it made it easy for Europeans to win.

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