The Columbian Exchange Effects

The Columbian Exchange created a great effect upon the world excluding the Asian and Malaysian continents. With it starting in the late 15th century and continuing till the mid-17th century it created a transcontinental trade of slaves, food, and raw supplies between Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and the Caribbean. These effects normally surrounded around the themes of social, politics, and economics; which were recorded by many documents, maps, and diagrams. The Columbian Exchange gained momentum when Christopher Columbus had “discovered” North America and the Native Americans. Being one of the first Europeans to find this new continent, he began to make relations with these new individuals but in the process take advantage

The first document shows the effect of when the Europeans exchanged the disease smallpox during relations with the Native Americans which started one of the largest disputed genocides in history. The second document shows how the Europeans would force the Natives to convert to their religion and practices but also the consequences when they did not do so. The third document notes the kind of thought that was put into categorizing each intermarriage of race and how it may shows the segregation of them. The last document is a spiritual of how Africans taken into slavery reacted and felt, them stating that they feel like a motherless child because they were often taken at a younger age. The social effects of the Columbian Exchange are the most important contrast to the actions of the Europeans because they are the only account that were not by the Europeans themselves so they see the event in a true light compared to the biased opinion. The social effects caused the destruction of ethnic culture by conversion or genocide especially for the Native

These documents were sought to explain the social, political, and economic effects of the Columbian Exchange and describe the interaction between Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans. The Europeans were the main cause for these effects during the Columbian Exchange, while the effects were caustic to the new continents they did cultivate a new mix of plants, animals, bacteria, and cultural diffusion which changed the course of history on a path no one would be able to predict except for the ones that lived