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Economic developments columbian exchange
Economic developments columbian exchange
Positive impacts from the Columbian exchange
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The Columbian Exchange was pivotal in shaping international trade and the world as we know it today. When trade between the Old World and New World became a standard, it opened up many new possibilities for business. There was a new demand for the exotic foods and goods from the New World. This demand for New World products contributes directly to the rise of production and industrialization of the Old World. The Columbian Exchange reshaped the process of mass production, population growth, and consumption.
The discovery of the New World by European civilizations began a new era of trade and consumption. After the discovery of the New World, trade of New World products became a common practice among European countries. Products such as pineapple,
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Since the products became more affordable for the average citizen, they were incorporated into daily life. In the seventeenth century, industrialization of cities became common, this can be attributed to the increase in food available to the general public. This increase in availability of food lead to a population growth. During this time, population in cities increased at high rates; in 1800, there was only six cities that surpassed half a million citizens. Just one hundred years later, 800 cities had surpassed this, and fourteen cities had ten million or more citizens. Before the eighteenth century, production was limited to craft manufacturing, so the industrialization of Europe allowed for a greater population to be sustained in the cities. Many new jobs, such as night-soil men and sewer hunters, were started in order to deal with the growing population. Sanitation was major concern during this time period.2 Indoor plumbing had not yet been invented, meaning that the public had to get their water from wells. The sewage system was also not very advanced, and raw sewage was able to contaminant the water wells. This lack of sanitation lead to a myriad of health problems. Cholera killed thousands during this time due to insufficient sewage systems, and a lack of knowledge about how diseases were spread.2 Both this lack of knowledge and increase in population caused great …show more content…
Since the Columbian Exchange, consumption has been growing without much concern for the sustainability of the environment. While in some cases such as Brazil the environment was unintentionally preserved; however, there are many more cases of a blatant disregard for the environment. However, we can not just stop consuming altogether, consumers need to be aware of the effects their choices have on the environment and society. Nowadays, there are many products that focus on sustainability and conservation. A focus needs to be placed on conservation and sustainability. This era of mass consumption may have been started by the Columbian Exchange, but the effects of it can still be slowed down. The Earth does not have infinite resource, making conservation extremely important. One resource that is often overlooked is actually space. When cities became heavily populated, space became a major issue, one that we still see today. In London, mass burial graves were used because there was not enough space for the common people to have their own graves. One rather controversial idea was to turn the burial graves into public parks because this would allow more space in the city for citizens to exercise, as well as, clear up the air. The idea did not go over well with many people, and was called immoral and selfish because graves were typically considered a sacred space. This shows just how important
The Columbian exchange was the exchange of goods and products that occurred when the Europeans came to America. Some of the items exchanged included potatoes and tomatoes, which originated in America, and wheat and rice, which originated in Europe. Because of this exchange, certain dishes are possible to be made. For example, tomatoes are a popular ingredient in Italian dishes, but they originated in America. Because of the Columbian exchange, Italians were able to adapt tomatoes to be included in their dishes. Similarly, there are many dishes which also cannot be possible without the exchange. This will go in-depth into a few dishes and see if they could be made without the Columbian exchange.
Encomiendas: An encomienda was a grant of Native American labor given to prominent European men in the Americas by the Spanish king. This grant allowed European men to extract tribute from natives in the form of labor and goods. The value of the grants was dramatically increased with the discovery of gold and silver in the Americas. The significance of this term is that although this system was eventually repartitioned, it initiated the tradition of prominent men controlling vast resources and monopolizing native labor.
In Alfred J. Crosby’s book, The Columbian Exchange, the author examines the impact of the New World on the Old World, but also the impact the Old World had on the New World. One key distinction Crosby notes is how the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus challenged the intellectual systems of Christianity and Aristotelianism. Most notably, the discovery of a world that was, in fact, “new” was so contradictory to scholarly work of the past, such as Aristotle or found in the Bible, that assumptions were made on where to fit the New World into a Christian and Aristotelian world. For example, previous findings under Aristotle, which were still utilized into the 15th Century, had “quite logically supposed the equatorial zone of
As we all know from the memorable song, in 1492 Columbus sailed to find the New World, commonly known as the Americas. Many idolize Columbus for his accomplishment in colonizing the Americas and starting the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange is the sharing of plants, animals, diseases, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres as a direct result of Columbus’ arrival to the Americas. However, we often oversee the downfalls of the Columbian Exchange. Some consequences of the exchange are the spread of disease to the Native people and settlers, the destruction of the Native population, and the disappearance of the Natives custom’s, beliefs, and way of life.
Nunn, Nathan, and Nancy Qian. "The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas." Journal of Economic Perspectives. Yale University, 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. .
Columbian Exchange, which also call the Grand Exchange, is an exchange of animals, crops, pollution (European and African), culture, infectious diseases and ideology between the eastern and western hemisphere in 15th and 16th centuries. Alfred W. Crosby first proposed this concept in his book “ The Columbian Exchange”, which published in 1972.
The author’s thesis is that before the arrival of Columbus and European culture in 1492, advanced society and culture already existed in the Americas that was not of the barbaric nature. This is clear when upon observing the author’s reasons for writing the book: “Balee’s talk was about ‘anthropogenic’ forests-forests created by Indians centuries or millennia in the past-a concept I’ve never heard of before. He also mentioned something that Denevan had discussed: many researchers now believe their predecessors underestimated the number of people in the Americas when Columbus arrived...Gee, someone ought to put all this stuff together, I thought. It would make a fascinating book”(x). Charles C. Mann is stating that upon learning the impressive
Christopher Columbus is profoundly known to be the key asset to advance European culture across seas. The Columbian Exchange, colonization, and the growth of slave usage throughout the usage of the Triangular Trade, all conveyed foreign practices to the American Continent while also interrupting, but at the same time joining with the lifestyles of the inhabitants of these lands. A mixture of processes and voyagers transformed America into a “new world”, catching the world by surprise. America would not have developed to the period in existence today, if it was not for this growing period of the “old” and “new” worlds. A global world is in continuation through today as nations continue to share cultural
On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus departed from Palos, Spain to begin his journey across the Atlantic Ocean. This was the first of many voyages that allowed him to explore a New World where he was able to discover plants, animals, cultures and resources that Europeans had never seen before. The sharing of these resources and combination of the Old and New World has come to be known as the Columbian Exchange. During these explorations, the Europeans brought diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, typhoid and bubonic plague to the New World, wiping out entire Indian populations. There were also many other populations wiped out due to complications that came from this exchange. Were these explorations and the wiping out of entire populations worth the benefits gained by the exchange?
The Columbian exchange was the widespread transfer of various products such as animals, plants, and culture between the Americas and Europe. Though most likely unintentional, the byproduct that had the largest impact from this exchange between the old and new world was communicable diseases. Europeans and other immigrants brought a host of diseases with them to America, which killed as much as ninety percent of the native population. Epidemics ravaged both native and nonnative populations of the new world destroying civilizations. The source of these epidemics were due to low resistance, poor sanitation, and inadequate medical knowledge- “more die of the practitioner than of the natural course of the disease (Duffy).” These diseases of the new world posed a serious
Columbian Exchange or the big exchange was a great exchange on a wide range of animals (Horses, Chickens, sheep, swine, Turkey), plants (Wheat, barley, corn, beans, tomatoes), people and culture, infectious diseases, and ideas, technology (Wheeled vehicles, iron tools, metallurgy) all these things happened between Native Americans and from Europe after the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Resulting in communication between the two cultures to initiate a number of crops that have led to the increase in population in both hemispheres, where the explorers returned to Europe loaded with corn, tomatoes, potatoes, which has become one of the main crops in Eurasia with the solutions of the eighteenth century. At the same time, the Europeans crops, cassava and peanuts to Southeast Asia with a tropical climate.
Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World in 1492 sparked an era known as the Columbian Exchange, in which the exchange of plants, animals, technology, ideas, and diseases occurred. It also marked the migration of many European settlers into the Americas, where they implemented their Eurocentric ideology on the First Nations who were residing there. A large amount of Latin Native Americans were taken as slaves back to Europe, or forced to commit rigorous labour and chores on sugar and coffee plantations in the Caribbean or South America. European monarchs utilized such resources through a mercantilist policy, giving Europe an economic boost. Based on the profits they were making through colonialism, they decided to set out and go imperialize more territory around the world. These events reinforce the idea that Europe could only flourish through the marginalization of Aboriginal
When the Europeans explored the Americas, they were introduced to new plants, foods, and animals, as well as riches and land. Foods such as corn, white and sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, cacao, fruits, peppers, peanuts, sugar cane, and tobacco were many of the new foods enjoyed by Europeans. Some animals such as wild turkeys, llamas, and alpacas, were brought back to Europe. Native American Indians traded furs with the Europeans, which were luxury items throughout Europe. The discovery of lands rich in gold, silver, and other treasures prompted the conquistadors to launch expeditions to the Americas, while reports of newly discovered lands abundant in resources, lured many other Europeans to the Americas in search of a new and better life.
Concluding, the significance of the Columbian exchange greatly impacted what we know of life today. The major impacts that have shaped what we know of the world today happened during the Colombian exchange. The major impacts of the Colombian exchange was Christianity that led to the rise of the Catholic Church, new food crops and domesticated animals that improved the Europeans and American living, new military technology such as weapons and horses, slavery of the natives and Africans and diseases that drastically harmed the different ethnic groups. Colombian Exchange between the old world and the new world still holds a drastic impact on the world today. If we didn’t have these influences then the world would be completely changed. Trading still continues today and has made an impact all over the world.
The Americas, unknown until Christopher Columbus’ voyage in 1492, became a major part of the world economy as many European nations colonized much of the land. Large sea trade arose during this time period, first by the Portuguese and Spanish and later by the English, French and Dutch. As European countries began exploring the Americas, an exchange of crops, animals, raw materials, diseases and new ideas were exchanged between the Americas and the rest of the world. This is known as the Columbian Exchange. One major component of the Columbian Exchange was the discovery of tobacco.