The Columbian Exchange

Donovan Dicks
MWH H Pd. 5
11/17/14

The Columbian Exchange was a period when both cultural and biological
aspects of society were exchanged between the new world and the old. Some of
the most notable parts of the exchange are humans, animals, plants, and
disease. Depending on ones perspective, the Columbian Exchange could have
impacted the world negatively or positively. When considering the advancements
and improvements that led to modern society, the Columbian Exchange was most
certainly a positive influence on the world.
The Columbian Exchange brought many things to the America, one the most
important being beasts of burden. Before Columbus arrived in the Americas,
there were no cattle, no horses, and no oxen, among many other animals. This
meant that people were the primary animals used to transport goods, farm, and
do manual labor. Civilization was thus slow in development, and relied on
humans for much of the work necessary to sustain life to be done. Farming was
therefore slow and time consuming with less output, and much of peoples lives
was dedicated to sustaining life rather than inventing or improving their
society. The Columbian exchange brought animals that were capable of bearing
large weight and could also be used to assist with labor (such as farming).
With these animals, civilization was able to expand and improve in the
Americas. Building was easier, transporting resources was faster, farming
produced greater yields, and people were ultimately able to spend less time
working on sustaining life. This opened the possibility for the American
civilizations to improve their society and way of life and make significant
technological advancements. Without these beasts of burden from the old world,
society in America as it is today would likely not have formed.
Animals served another purpose in the Columbian Exchange, as well as
plants. Both animals and plants are sources of food, and were exchanged back

and forth across the Atlantic. Many of the plants and animals that are common
in todays cuisine were brought from the old world. This is also true in the
other direction, as many foods native to the Americas were brought back to the
old world. The food from the new world was far more caloric than that of the
old world, meaning that less food could sustain more people for longer. The
transportation of food with higher caloric content to the new world led to a
large growth of population in Europe. To summarize, John Green says the
abundance of meat and plentiful land for agriculture and grazing meant that
Europeans in the Americas very rarely experienced famine. Without this
abundance of food in the Americas and the introduction of more caloric food to
the old world, the modern world may have never come to be. Food was an
essential aspect of the Columbian Exchange that had an enormous impact on the
world, old and new.
Because of the exchange of plants and animals, populations were able to
sustainably grow in both the old and new worlds. As populations rose in
Europe, people began to travel to America for food and space as Europes
population density increased. The inhabitants of the new world were able to
live longer, healthier lives with the food they were able to produce, leading
to another source of increased population in the new world. Along with animals
and plants, people were also transported in the Columbian Exchange. Slaves
were taken from Africa to the Americas, and Indians were taken from the
Americas to Europe. Along with the forcible movement of people, many also
traveled on their own accord, looking to establish a new life or become
wealthy in the new world. The exchange of people, both by force and choice,
allowed the population of the old world and new world to expand greatly and
therefore the entire population of the world. The gene pool was able to
intermingle and create more diversity of human life across the world. Without
the movement of humans across the world caused by the Columbian Exchange, the
world would not appear as it does today. The diversity of human life would be

far less prevalent. The worlds population would be far less, and the
population distribution would be very different. The world would be very
different and likely less advanced, more crowded, and struggling to survive.
Many would make the claim that the Columbian Exchange had a negative
impact on the world and humanity. One might say that there is far less
biodiversity, that is, the variety of life throughout the world is more narrow
and related, and places have lost their individuality. The species of plants
and animals in the world are no longer exclusive to their native regions, but
are present in most places around the world. Alfred Cosby, Jr says that [man]
and that plants and animals he brings with him have caused the extinction of
more species of life forms in the last four hundred years than the usual
processes of evolution might kill off in a million. Man is a direct cause of
the lesser variety of life through intentional practices and unintentional
ways of lfie. While these examples are all true, and they are certainly
negative, they are not enough to outweigh the positives. While the worlds
biodiversity may have decreased, and the variety of life become more
monotonous, the advances in society we know today could not have happened
without the Exchange. In terms of human advancement and success, the Columbian
Exchange was far more positive than it was negative.
The Exchange laid the foundation for modern life, and without it, the
world would not be as prosperous as it is today. Many of the nations of this
world owe their success to the Columbian Exchange, especially America.