A Critique Of The Columbian Exchange And Its Outcomes

The Columbian Exchange was the biological exchange of diseases, food, animals, and people around the world. This is something that had an enormous impact on the people and cities all over. When voyagers made their first trips to the new world, they brought animals unfamiliar to the new area as well as diseases that the people populating those lands had not been exposed to previously. They also discovered that the indigenous people they encountered had agriculture that was not found in the old world. The impact of the exchange of biological items to and from these areas had many negative repercussions, although there were also some positive outcomes as well.

There were many diseases that were brought to the Americas that the indigenous people had never been exposed to before. With the deadliest being smallpox, the exchange of infectious diseases from the Europeans to the native Americans resulted in a quick decline in the population. I believe it would be safe to say that the Americas may not have been so easily defeated if 80 percent or more of the population had not been decimated. In the early days of the settling of America there were entire cities that disappeared due to the spread of illness. In the battle that occurred at Tenochtitlan between the Spanish and the Mexica, or more commonly known as the Aztecs, it was the spread of smallpox throughout the city that led to the Spanish emerging victorious. When this happened, the Spanish took a great advantage over the siege because there was simply not enough Aztecs left to protect the city. This is only one small example of the devastation caused throughout the Americas due to the spread of diseases. We could all be living in a very different United States right now if this had not occurred.

The agricultural exchange had both positive and negative effects across the globe. Europe gained some new food items that they had never seen before such as corn, tomatoes, and potatoes. It was discovered that they also grew well in different European areas and these became quite a staple for their diets. This ended up being somewhat of a blessing and a curse. England experienced a large rise in population and more balanced diets, however poverty increased. Due to this the people that had money to eat were able to eat well, but the poor people were likely to starve. I find it interesting how more food can be harmful, in a way, to a population of people. This was one of the main reasons that the English started setting their focus across the Atlantic. It is very possible that, under different circumstances, the people of our nation’s ancestors could have had mostly Spanish or French lineage. The Americas gained several things that are commonplace on the dinner table today as well. Cows and pigs were brought by boat from Europe. Beef and Pork are always in stock in my kitchen and they have become a staple in the American diet present day overall. I personally, am very happy that I have these items available to me now.

Getting away from animals that we raise for food, there was another animal that had a significant impact as well. When the Europeans brought horses to America, they had a vast advantage over the locals. The Spanish were able to travel swiftly on their horses and had a large advantage in war against the Indians. It was not long until the Indian people also acquired horses, however. Due to this, the Native Americans were able to meet the opposition with a little more equality when it came time to fight. Horses were used not only for advantage in battle, but also for more effective hunting and the ability to move much larger objects or loads with ease. Cultures that were previously settled became nomadic as they were able to easily hunt larger game and travel farther and faster. Today there are horses all over the Americas. What would the cowboys of the old west have ridden if the horses were never brought over on those boats?

In my opinion, the trade of people around the world had the biggest impact of all. Slavery became commonplace after the colonization of America. Africans were literally stuffed into ships and put through terrible conditions just to be brought overseas to the Caribbean and the Americas. Unfortunately, things did not get better for them once they made it here. They were treated as property and seen as inferior. It is hard for me to wrap my head around owning an actual human being. African children were born directly into it as well with no opportunity for anything else. It is a very debated topic on the effects that this had on America. When I look at this from a humanities standpoint, there is nothing positive that I can come up with on my own. When I try to see it from an economic standpoint, however, I can understand how this was cost-effective for the people that benefitted from this. The plantations were huge and needed a lot of manpower to work them to keep up with the heavy demand of agricultural items such as tobacco and sugar. The owners of the plantations got very wealthy because of the work their slaves did. During that time also, there may not have been any other place for the slaves to go that would have been better for them if they were free. Though the treatment they received was abysmal, they did have a roof over their head and food to eat. While these things may be true, it may have made the people in the south somewhat lazy. They did not really have to work for everything if they owned slaves. Even today there seems to be an intellectual divide between the northern states and the southern states in America. While it is not as prevalent today as it was then, an example to demonstrate this would be the school systems America has in the present day. The schools in the northern states are ranked much higher than the schools in the south. Overall, I believe that the introduction of Africans to America did have very large impacts no matter if good or bad.

It could be assumed that the Americas might have been a very different place to live today if the Columbus Exchange has never happened. The positive and negative outcomes have all affected the world that we all live in today. As the results of this became more researched people put bans on travelling to other countries with certain types of produce and animals. There are still times when you must notify someone if you have travelled to certain areas of the world due to an outbreak of infection. The positive results made it capable to have bacon for breakfast and rides on horseback on the beach. It is easy to forget about the devastation that disease brought to the Indians but everything that happened helped to shape the Americas into what they are today.