The Columbian Exchange

737 Words2 Pages

The idea of trade has left lasting effects on society and the early-modern world. The desire for these resources and goods impacted exploration, which led to the discoveries of some civilizations and other natural and valuable resources. This essay will explain how trade became an important force for change in the early-modern world, how the desire for resources and goods drove exploration, and the effects that trade had on society as well as foreign relations. To begin with, trade became an important force for change in the early-modern world. The Columbian Exchange, which began during Columbus’s arrival in 1492, is a trade factor that has impacted the early-modern world. This exchange revolved around metal ores, non-food items like smallpox and typhus, animals, in addition to other food items. A majority of goods traded from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere, are still used and traded today. As a result of a variety of crops and livestock being traded, it increased the human population. Inhabitants of the early-modern world had more resources, therefore …show more content…

Friendships between leaders of different countries can occur from trading, therefore becoming allies. As stated in a letter written by the Great Moghul Jahangir of India, to James I, King of England, “For confirmation of our love and friendships, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace… that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal.” Countries foreign relations can be well and trusted, while others aren’t, like Pope Innocent III and the Saracens. The Pope states, “... we have placed under sentence of excommunication all those who in future consort with the Saracens, directly or indirectly, or who attempt to give or send aid to them by sea, as long as the war between them and us shall

Open Document