Summary: Columbian Exchange

Matt Fisher

Mrs. Howerton

World History

13 November 2015

Columbian Exchange

Imagine Christopher Columbus sailing into unknown waters across unchartered territories. The year is 1492 and Christopher Columbus was on a ship only 110 feet in length. His intended target was the eastern coast of Asia with its magnificent cities and harbors brimming with untold wealth. Approximately 70 days into his journey, instead of finding the bustling harbors and cities of Asia, he finds himself in an inhospitable, undeveloped land, inhabited by strange people, speaking a language he did not understand. Unknown to Christopher Columbus, the fledgling trade routes of the Columbian Exchange were founded; bringing with it unimaginable wealth, but also the unintended

Through the trade that was established, it quickly became apparent that the native livestock would not provide the infrastructure needed in order for the full profitability of the trade routes to be achieved. Prior to Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World, the native population was limited in it mobility and development due to the fact that native animals were all relatively small in size. Due to their small stature, usually weighing 100 pounds or less, the existing livestock was not domesticated nor could it be utilized in agriculture or industry. Following Christopher Columbus’s arrival, and the establish of the Columbian Exchange, the Americans saw the arrival of many new species of animals, including horses, sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs. Prior to the mingling of worlds“the Native Americans had 13 different types of animals. Columbus brought over 72 animal species, 13 of which could be domesticated”(Wilson 2). The introduction of so many new, and larger animals, not only cemented the Columbian Exchange and its trade routes, but also profoundly and permanently changed the Native Americans and their

Wheat became one of the most consumed and important crops in the world. The importance of wheat was due to the fact that it could be grown very easily, grown in abundance, and fairly easily transported across long distances. An additional crop which was extremely influential in the New World and the Columbian Exchange was sugar cane. “Sugar cane in the 1500s changed trade in a huge way”(Mintz 1). Although sugar cane could be used in a wide range of goods, it was the demand for sugar, which was used in tea that helped fuel the desire for more and more of this sweet product. With constantly increasing demands, huge plantations on the American continents were created to grow and process this product for ever increasing demands from the European continent. And with this ever increasing demand, also came the need for more laborers in the fields and processing sheds to help supply the overseas purchasers. Even today sugar cane is still one of the most commonly grown plants in the world. It was the introduction of these crops and their subsequent demands for workers, which “became the foundation for some of the largest slave facilities in South America and America”(Crosby 2). These crops laid the foundations of some of the most powerful countries, with the largest economies in the world, that exist even