Columbian Exchange Research Paper

were onions, grains, and cattle, which caused the population to increase. Although there was a slight

From 1450-1750, there was a time of great exploration and advancement in technology that state consolidation and expansion. Inventions like the astrolabe, compass, and lanteen sail made these expeditions possible and more accessible than ever before. There were positive and negative effects of exploration and it greatly impacted the organization of regions throughout time. As networks of communication and exchange emerged, goods and the transmission of disease increased like smallpox, new discoveries of unkown territories were made such as the New World, and cultural interactions that spread religion like the Spanish converting Mexico to Christianity were becoming more and more evident.

The interactions experienced by the Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans changed the economy and the society in many ways. The period more commonly known as the Columbian Exchange, which was set in motion by Christopher Columbus, a Spanish explorer who settled the Americas in 1492. The Americas, Africa, and Europe, began to trade back and forth between themselves, creating triangular trade. With this new method plants, animals, diseases, technology, ideas, populations, and culture were introduced and dispersed throughout one another.

In the new world, Europeans encountered indigenous plant foods cultivated by Native Americas. These plants were potatoes, beans, corn, tobacco, and cocoa. The potato is especially important because it’s known for one of the main foods for Ireland. The European’s influenced oats and barley etc. Domesticated animals as pigs, chickens, sheep, and ox were also brought to the Americas. Horses were also brought to the new world which was a new tool for hunting and used for military.

During the 1450’s to 1750’s the Americas were evolving at a constant rate. The slave trade and the use trade such as the triangular trade were very common during this time-period due to the rise in plantations, causing a diverse region in South America. In addition, forced labor was an important constant throughout the region and was controlled by Spanish and the Inca’s which also allowed for a mixture of culture and ethnicities.

The time period of 1492 to 1750 was an era of conquest and innovation. Arounnd this time was when there was more interactions between the Eastern and Western hemispheres of the world. These interactions had major impacts on the world as a whole at the time, both good and bad. During this time in the Atlantic world, European dominance and the demand for God, gold, and glory remained constant, while there were significant social changes in the Native American population and the attitude that native had towards the Europeans.

It was originally only between Spain and America, but soon many other countries in Europe began to join the trade. Among the many crops that were traded the two most important ones from America were potato and maize (corn) with sugarcane as a close second. The Europeans also took some of the land to mine for gold and silver. With this, the economy flourished and Europe began to develop because they had more food to support bigger populations. On

History has shaped every part of the various cultures and regions throughout the world. These influential historical events might have made a large impact, while other events only impacted a few regions. Some historical events can also have a positive influence on one area and a negative influence on another. A historic event that had a large impact and influence, both positive and negative, on several different regions of the world was the Columbian Exchange. In a broad sense, the Columbian Exchange can be described as a period of time where there were numerous exchanges between the new and the old worlds. Many of the items that were exchanged included both cultural and biological elements (Malone et al.). It is often stated that Christopher Columbus is responsible for starting this massive cultural exchange

The fundamental factors of increasing their power and acquiring wealthy goods from the East drew the Europeans exploration, of the New World. The access to the trading of the Portuguese with the East by the African shore and the rivalry between the Muslims limited the Spaniard’s opportunity to import these goods. Thirsty to gain power the Spaniards sought another route to reach the East. Therefore, lead by the seafarer Christopher Columbus, the Spanish monarchs allowed the expedition headed westward. In which resulted to the discovery of the New World.

The movement of goods, people, and wealth in the late 17th and 18th centuries permanently changed societies across the continents of Europe, Africa, and North and South America, thereby increasing the reach of globalization in the modern age. Most influential to this movement was what is sometimes referred to as “The Atlantic Circuit”, a triangle of trade between Western Europe, western Africa, and the West Indies. Out of this circuit came the rapid growth of the Atlantic slave trade, which not only established multiple industries of agriculture, but significantly changed the economies of all countries involved. The

Many historians today consider the encomienda system to be one of the most damaging systems colonists introduced to the New World. Although the system was implemented for good, for the spread of Christianity, the end results were devastating to the natives. The encomienda system played a major role in South American society and economy. It negatively affected the native population, by turning the natives into slave laborers and by effectively stunting South America’s economic growth, especially for the Guarani. The encomienda (derived from the Spanish word ‘encomendar’ which means ‘to entrust’) was a system used by the Spanish, mainly during the colonization of Central and South America.

The Columbian Exchange is the exchange of plants, animals, food, and diseases between Europe and the Americas. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus came to America, he saw plants and animals he had never seen before so he took them back with him to Europe. Columbus began the trade routes which had never been established between Europe and the Americas so his voyages initiated the interchange of plants between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, which doubled the food crop resources available to people on both sides of the Atlantic.

During late 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the United States went through rapid industrialization that drastically changed many aspects of its society. During this era, the United States became the leading industrial capitalist of the world . This also led to tremendous increase in demand for the working-class Americans. Also, advancement in farm machinery led to less need for manual labors in farms and rural areas. Thus, these rural workers began to migrate to the urban areas to seek job opportunities in industries such as manufacturing and other factory jobs. This influx of

increase their wealth. They saw the native people as a source of labor they could use to

Change was notably caused by the Europeans through purposeful actions that benefitted their goals. With their sights first being set on gold and land, this quickly included wiping out or using indigenous communities that were in the way. Starting from the beginning of contact and officially in 1503, the Spanish Crown set up the encomienda system. The system was supposed to grant conquistadors Indian labor and their land, and in return the men would protect and religiously convert the villages. The original plan was already a shift in culture and identity, but what the encomienda system turned into was drastic. The conquistadors