Cultural And Cultural Impacts Of The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange was a period where exchanges between the New and Old Worlds took place. There were cultural and biological exchanges and these included plants, animals, diseases and even technology (Crosby, A.). These exchanges not only transformed the European and Native American ways of life but made it easier. The Columbian Exchange not only transformed life but impacted the social and cultural structure of both sides of the World. Advancements in agricultural production was seen, there was an evolution of warfare, an increased mortality rates and education was also effect by the Columbian Exchange on both the Europeans and Native Americans (Crosby, A.). This exchange began in 1492 with Columbus ' discovery but afterwards, the trade

By 700 A.D., it was seen that sugar was diffused to the Mediterranean region by Islamic expansion and trade as sucrose was viewed as an exotic spice and medicine (Nunn, Nathan). In 1452, Portuguese sugar production began on Madeira, an uninhabited island off the northwest coast of Africa. Indigenous peoples were the first workers brought to island of Madeira to work on the sugar mills, but the need for labor was too much. To get help with more labor, the enslaved African Americans were brought in and they became the main labor force for the sugar industry. By 1500, Madeira became the largest exporter of sugar in the world (Dunn, R.). With the success of the cash crop and the labor provided by the African Americans, sugar production was seen to have spread to other Atlantic islands; first it was the Canaries, then Santiago in the Cape Verde islands but these islands lacked the required rainfall for good cane culture. This is where the Portuguese, and then later the Spanish, Dutch, and English came to set their sights on other areas to continue this white gold sugar industry hoping to expand the production and gain

Though it was one of the best cash crops during the Columbian Exchange, sugar production was a labor-intensive process that required good timing and good weather. But what was needed the most was good and cheap labor and to provide the initial labor force, the Native Americans were used (Dunn, R.). However the working conditions were terrible for these people. Enslaved people would work six days a week for ten to twelve hours a day - from 6 a.m. to 12 noon with an hour break, and then 1 p.m. until dark. During harvest time, the labor was even tougher with the mills running twenty-four hours a day with slaves working long, grueling shifts. Slaves would be provided with food by plantation owners but it was often in small quantities which resulted in poor nutrition for slaves (Dunn, R.). However by 1600, more than half of Native Americans population in the Caribbean and Atlantic Coast became ill and eventually die; this was mainly due to disease but also due to harsh and gruesome labor