Who Started The Columbian Exchange

Christopher Columbus was an explorer that was born in 1451. He is famous for his voyage in 1492, from Spain to the West Indies. On October 12th, 1492, Columbus and his men sailed across the Atlantic in 3 ships: Nina, Santa Maria and the Pinta. That single voyage alone marked the beginning of the upraising of European colonization in the New World. When Columbus returned to Spain after his first trip, word traveled fast through Europe of his discoveries. After realizing how successful the first voyage was, he made 3 more journeys to the New World, finding new islands and mapping out South and Central America. Life on each end of the Atlantic Ocean varied very much. Thus started the Columbian Exchange, the transferring of plants, animals, humans, ideas and culture between Europe, Africa and North America. Starting in 1492 all the way until 1750 many things were traded along the Atlantic ocean. Sent to the west were pigs, horses, goats and a small quality of manufactured goods. Shipped to the west were maize, beans, squash and potatoes. Along with all of the material items being

shipped, diseases were also being carried. One of the most important traded items of the Columbian Exchange was tobacco. Tobacco was one of the first traded items introduced to the Europeans as a gift from the Natives. As tobacco was brought back over to Europe, it began to be grown everywhere.
Meanwhile in England during the Columbian Exchange, the people were starting to question the church which lead to the Protestant Reformation.

The Protestant Reformation was the religious, political, intellectual upheaval that gave the Catholic Church a run for their money. It all started with Martin Luther, a monk, who posted over 90 theses on the church door challenging many of the Roman Catholic practices. He argued that the bible was the central means to discern God’s word and not the pope. Luther developed a belief that soon became known as “Lutheranism”. Many people were moved by Luther's efforts, especially John Calvin, a French theologian and lawyer, who started Calvinism. Lutheranism and Calvinism together got the people thinking and they were ready for a change. In 1606, the King granted a group of around 100 members to voyage off to the New World, and there they started

Jamestown.
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the New World on the banks of the James River. After arriving on the land, they were attacked by the Algonquian natives, who became an enemy. Over a month of being in the New World, the settlers had come up with enough wood to build a fort around Jamestown. The fort consisted of palisaded walls forming a triangle and the town only consisted of a storehouse, church and a handful of houses. The first 2 years of James town were very rough; there was disease and conflict with the Algonquian natives. The people of Jamestown did trade with the Powhatan Indians, food for glass beads, copper and iron. In 1614, John Rolfe, an Englishman, married Pocahontas, Powhatan’s chief's daughter which started a peace treaty between the English and the Natives. Rolfe and Pocahontas visited England to visit King James when Pocahontas died of disease. While visiting England, Rolfe realized that tobacco could be sold in England and make a fortune. Once this realization was made, the settlers stopped looking for gold, in hopes that they could make a fortune off of tobacco. In 1616, tobacco sales had finally put Jamestown on economic ground. Since tobacco farming was being so popular, many workers were needed, for this reason, the Headright System was created. This system was used to attract new settlers to Jamestown, also to address the labor shortage. Settlers that were new could pay their way to Jamestown would receive 50 acres of land. If you could not afford to pay your way to Virginia, you could work for 5-7 years on the tobacco farms. The Headright System could come in handy as the pilgrims come over from England.
During 1620, 100 English men and women set sail for the New World, following the path of the Jamestown settlers, aboard the Mayflower. The ship landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, but before getting off the Mayflower, all the men aboard had to sign the Mayflower Compact. The compact set up the rules and laws at Plymouth Rock, it became the foundation of Plymouth’s government. Unlike the settlers at Jamestown, they were able to make peace right away with the Natives and built a safe and secure town within 5 years. But, before they reached the 5 year mark, many of the settlers died from illness, disease and weather. The pilgrims who survived were introduced to Squanto, a Native American who becomes a member of the colony. Squanto was an interpreter between the colony and the Natives. Plymouth and the Pokanoket tribe became very close and in the fall of 1621 they shared a meal together that we now call Thanksgiving.