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Essay / Overview of the Columbian Exchange and Its Effects
The Columbian Exchange was the global spread of animals, diseases, people, technologies, and ideas between Europe and the Americas. In the Age of Exploration, European explorers embarked on voyages across the Atlantic Ocean to find a shorter route to India. However, they discovered two new continents in which they colonized and claimed their respective nations. Naturally, the trade took place between Europe and the Americas and was later officially named the Columbian Stock Exchange. Although the effects of the Columbian Exchange were similar in the Americas and Europe due to the introduction of crops such as chili peppers and sugar cane to America and the introduction of crops such as corn and apples of land in Europe, they have been more different as the Americas Europe has experienced more negative effects due to exposure to many new types of diseases, while Europe has experienced more positive effects, like the monopolization of American silver mines. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay The Americas received indigenous European crops such as chili peppers and sugar cane. Likewise, Europe was introduced to indigenous American crops such as squash, beans, corn, potatoes, and cocoa, forever transforming the diets and cultures of both continents. For example, the failure to produce healthy potatoes during the Irish Potato Famine led to the emigration of many Irish people because the potato was a staple of the Irish diet. Additionally, American food crops caused an increase in the European population and an increase in cultivation and land enclosure. Before the Columbian Exchange, diseases such as smallpox, typhoid, bubonic plague, influenza, and the common cold resided only in the Old World, consisting of Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, humans, rats, and mosquitoes created a pathway for the spread of these diseases from Europe to the Americas during the Columbian Exchange. Although Europeans developed immunity to these diseases due to their prolonged exposure to them, approximately 100 million Native Americans died due to the long environmental isolation between the New World and the Old World. In other words, Native Americans had no immunity to European diseases, leading to a medical catastrophe that wiped out approximately ninety percent of the Native American race. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. When China began its trade policy of only accepting silver for its products, Europeans desperately needed to find sources of silver to meet Chinese demands. During the Columbian Exchange, the Spanish discovered the existence of silver in the Americas. Under the impression that whites were superior to the colored races, Spain used a system of forced labor to create and monopolize America's silver mines. Using a form of mercantilism, an economic system in which slave labor, trade restrictions only allowing trade with Spain, and unbalanced trade were enforced through the Encomienda system, the Spanish people benefited because they sucked up most of the money and possible profits. . On the other hand, the Americas suffered greatly from the complete transformation of land, from the loss..