Columbian Exchange: Europe and the Americas

Sagar Shah Columbian Exchange Europe and the Americas The Columbian Exchange was an bear onful spread of culture, food and even frightening sicknesss between the grizzly institution and the refreshing World. This capital exchange started by and by the accidental discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. Originally, Columbus and his crew set on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India and the spice islands of Asia. Instead, he found a whole new world in the western hemisphere that was eventually named The wise World. The Columbian Exchange had unrelenting effects on both the obso allowe World as well up as the New World.The Columbian Exchange had several supportive impacts, atomic number 53 of which was the introduction of new fix crops such as maize and spudes to Europe. These staple crops and even some additional new foods such as common pepper pepper, subject vanilla and coca provided nutrients that the indigenous crops didnt have. Europe s imilarwise received quinine which was a medicine that helped deal with malaria. The Columbian Exchange excessively had a few negative impacts the most devastating was the spread of diseases in the Americas that were brought from Europe. Diseases like smallpox, tuberculosis, and bubonic plague quickly transfused across the New World.Overall the Columbian Exchange had a more negative impact on the New World and a more positive influence on the aged World. One lasting impression the New World had on the experienced World was the introduction of new crops and foods. One staple food that the Europeans brought nates was maize. Maize was a success in Europe because it produces well in a variety of climates. Maize prospers in atomic number 18as in like manner dry for strain and too wet for wheat making it ideal to grow in some different climates (Crosby W. Alfred 2003). For this reason maize was very touristed and adoptive quickly. The potato excessively had a huge effect on the O ld World.The potato contains large cadences of calories and nutrients due to the starch in it. The potato is sufficient to sustain life better than any other food that is consumed (Davidson and Passmore, 1965, p. 285). resembling maize, the potato bear also be cultivated in a variety of climates making it ideal for Europeans to use (Crosby W. Alfred 2003). The prototypic place the potato reached was Ireland. In fact the potato spurred a population growth in Ireland (Nunn and Qian 2009). The reason the potato became popular in Europe was because of the abundance of nutrients that it contains and because it can sustain lie withs all by itself which other crops cannot do.Even though potatoes and maize had a big impact on Europe, many a(prenominal) other foods like peppercorn peppers also had a positive impact on the Old World. peppercorn Peppers originated in Bolivia and southern Brazil. When the Europeans came to the Americas, the pepper migrated to Mesoamerica and the Caribb ean (Andrews, 1992, 82-83). The capsicum peppers had reached Spain and Africa by 1453. It had also reached the eastbound Indies by 1540 and India by 1542 (Andrews, 1992, 82-83). The capsicum pepper has also impacted many other countries. In Southeast Asia the capsicum pepper has been used in cuisines.Capsicum peppers are also very nutritious. They contain a good amount of vitamin A, vitamin B, and vitamin C. They also contain large amounts of iron and magnesium. Magnesium is essential because it spurs vigor production and iron is important because it speeds up metabolism (Greger 1994). This shows how capsicum peppers that originated in the Americas came to big use in Europe making a positive impact on their society. Another food that had a positive impact on Europe was plain vanilla. Plain vanilla originated in Mexico, interchange America, and South America. Plain vanilla comes from the plant Vanilla planifolia.The vanilla pods wish to be fermented and it creates the chemical va nillin. The vanillin is the chemical that gives plain vanilla its scent and its lucid flavor (Rain, 1992, p. 37). Plain vanilla was first brought arse to Spain when Cortez came to the Americas. It became very popular in a very short amount of time in Europe because factories were using the vanilla to flavor the chocolate. Like chocolate, vanilla too became a luxury that unless when the aristocrats could afford (Rain, 1992, p. 40). Vanilla was not only used for flavoring, it was also used for scents in perfumes and tobacco (Bruman, 1948, pp. 71-372). This is why plain vanilla grew so popular in the Old World. Its great taste and smell made it appealing to many countries. Coca was other crop that pull ined Europe. quite a little of the Inca Empire first used coca leaves, where they chewed them during ghostly activities. The first Spanish settlers adopted this idea and brought back to Europe where it became popular. A well-known psychologist by the name of Sigmund Freud started chewing coca after he found out that coca increases stamina, creativity, and it decreases hunger (Hobhouse, 2005, pp. 10-313). After this was discovered, coca became exceedingly popular in Europe and it began to spread throughout the world. Foods were not the only positive things that helped the Europeans. A gift that the New World gave to the Old World was quinine. Quinine contains anti-malarial alkaloids, which come from the barks of cinchona trees. These trees grow in Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru (Brockway, 1979, p. 108). This medicine was helpful to the Europeans because it let them travel across the world and conquer lands without worrying about the panic of malaria.Even though the Columbian Exchange had an overall positive effect on Europe, it had a negative influence on the Americas. One disease that was brought to the New World was smallpox. The smallpox virus is caused by Variola, which is closely related to vaccinia and monkeypox (Patterson 2002). The infection causes skin rashes and causes mucus membranes to emerge. These rashes stay for about 12 eld then the person infected then experiences 104 degree Fahrenheit fever, back pain, and vomiting. Three days later the rash will spread to the nose, mouth, forearms, throat, hands, and gift (Ngan, 2011). variola major virus easily spreads through close contact. Estimates of closing rate resulting from smallpox epidemics wind between 39% for the Aztecs, 50% for the Piegan, Huron, Catawba, Cherokee, and Iroquois, 66% for the Omaha and Blackfeet, 90% for the Mandan, and 100% for the Taino (Halverson, 2007). Smallpox epidemics affected the life of many homegrown American tribes for hundreds of years. This is only iodin disease that had an awful effect on the inhering Americans. Tuberculosis is also another disease that spread from the Old World to the New World. Tuberculosis, is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Paulsen 1987).The bacteria can glide slope any part of the bod y, hardly most frequently attacks the lungs. Tuberculosis of the lungs and throat is infectious. When a person with Tuberculosis coughs or sneezes, the bacteria spread into the air. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected. When a person breathes in the bacteria, the bacteria settle in the lungs and begin to grow. The first major outbreaks of Tuberculosis among the native people of North America began in the 1880s after they were settled on reservations. When native-born Americans were required to live in small fixed huts, an epidemic began.As endemic Americans were living to reservations their death rates from Tuberculosis increased rapidly. Bates and Stead give the death rates of Native Americans. By 1886 the Tuberculosis death rate reached 9000 per 100,000 people. These rates are much higher than ever observed in Europe because the Native Americans lacked immunity to Tuberculosis and were weak in fighting off the bacteria (Bates & Stead, 1993). The Nativ e Americans were being hit by disease after disease with the Europeans coming over and settling. Another disease that devastated them was the Bubonic offense. The Bubonic Plague is also known as the Black Death.Bubonic plague painfully causes self-loving lymph nodes that appear around the groin, armpit, or neck (Halverson, 2007). The Bubonic plague had already devastated Europe by killing millions and after Europeans came to the Americas, the Black Death killed millions of Native Americans. The Columbian Exchange was a time when European nations sent explorers to the Americas after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. The Americas were filled with new crops and foods that glowering out to be very beneficial to the Europeans. The Europeans brought back staple crops like maize and potato that contain a large amount of nutrients.Other crops embroil capsicum pepper, plain vanilla, and coca. Each had their own way of helping the Europeans. A medicine that the Europeans took from the Americas was quinine. Quinine fought off malaria, which enormously benefited the Europeans because they were able to conquer lands that have malaria but not die from the disease. The Columbian Exchange benefited the Europeans, but it did not benefit the Americas. The Columbian Exchange brought many Europeans to the Americas. With many Europeans traveling to the New World, many diseases also came along.Diseases like smallpox, tuberculosis, and the bubonic plague resulted in the death of millions of Native Americans. These diseases even killed off many tribes completely. 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