The Columbian Exchange is appropriately titled Old World Meets New World in Major Problems in American History by Cobbs and Blum. The Columbian exchange simply put was the exchanging of plants, animals, diseases, and even weapons. When European explorers first came to the Americas, they were introduced to things such as tomatoes and tobacco, whereas the native americans were introduced to things such as cattle, chicken, and pigs. Most Europeans, especially from Spain, became explorers because they wanted to colonize other areas and claim for their country (Cobbs, Blum, 17).
Unfortunately for the native americans, the european travelers unknowingly carried over many diseases with them. The native americans, at this point, had little to no exposure to any of these diseases. The Europeans brought with them cholrea, malaria, measles, mumps, small pox, Typhoid, and yellow fever. This led to a mass amount of fatalities. Infact, it is estimated that Inca Empire decreased from (13) thirteen million to (2) two million in 1600. In Small Pox Amongst the Natives by Floretine Codex, we can visualize what appears to be a native american suffering from the terrible disease. The collage shows the health of the individual rapidly deteriorating. The native american is quite literally covered in head to toe with small pox hives. The europeans struggled with the loss of native americans because they needed labor to cultivate all of the new crops within the Americas, but there were not many natives left. The Europeans took action by enslaving Africans to work as slaves in the Americas.
Remarkably, over time, crops native to the americas became staple foods in Europe. Moreover, the crops native to americas held more nutritional value, thus helping people live longer. Presently, the one crop that comes to mind when you think of ireland is the potato. Furthermore, the one crop that comes to mind when you think of Italy is the tomato. Neither one of these countries would have either crops had it not been for the columbian exchange! When Christopher Columbus returned from his trip 1493, he brought back many things from his explorations that made people want to explore other lands (C&B 22).
Ultimately, the European explorers made out economically, but only at the expense of the native americans. They forced native americans and african americans into slavery for their own personal gain. While the old world (Europe) had several beneficial things to offer the new world (americas), such as pigs, apples, bananas, and wheat, the native americans suffered a major tragedy with the arrival of the europeans.
Question three: Slavery, otherwise known as the “economic powerhouse of America,” influenced people from all over the country. The history of slavery is full of disaster, and cruelty which made is such a big debate that spanned many continents. Such argumentation started because slaves were being treated as if they were inhuman. They would be harshly beaten and considered property, Slave owners sought to make their slaves completely dependent on them. In addition to this, a structure of restricted codes governed them. Slavery is not an institution that developed itself. The most basic purpose of slavery was simply greed and to be free of the work that needed to be done. Americans forced the strenuous labor upon others, simply so they wouldn’t have to.
In 1619, 20 slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia by a Dutch ship.One obvious result of the development of slave labor was the transformation of western tastes.
Slavery developed in the American colonies through the production of lucrative crops such as tobacco and cotton. European settlers believed that African American slaves were a cheaper more plentiful labor source than anyone else. Tobacco became popular with men as they became quite addicted to the product. Rice was used to starch clothing, indigo was a routine dye, and rum became widely known as the prefered drinks of the colonists. To own a slave was meant more than just having a successful plantation. Colonists also needed slaves who were skilled in other field if work such as: masons, carpenters, distillers, cattleman, nurses, seamstresses, and many more skilled workers. As the slave colonies developed into complex economic and social groups, slavery spilled out into most walks of life.
Slavery had a huge impact on Africans, African-Americans, Native people, and white settlers who all took part in the Atlantic Slave Trade. The transatlantic slave trade, which lasted from the mid-sixteenth century until the 1860’s was an oceanic trade in African men, women, and children. European traders loaded African captives at multiple points on the African coast, from Senegambia to Angola and from the Cape to Mozambique. A great number of captives were collected from West and Central Africa and from Angola.The trade was inaugurated by the Portuguese and Spanish especially after the arrangement of sugar plantations in the colonies. As time passed, planters attempted to grow other profitable crops, such as tobacco, rice, coffee, cocoa, and cotton, with European indentured laborers as well as African and Indian slave laborers. Africans that were captured, by the time of 1619, have already been transported and was brought to Brazil to becomes slaves Soon after, Northern Europeans followed in their footsteps. British slave traders alone transported 3.5 million Africans to the Americas. The slave trade, although it was complex and was changing all the time, it impacted the lives of many who suffered serious consequences.
European and American slaveholders victimized millions of African men, women and children. Not only this, but Europeans and Americans prospered as their slaves made economic and political growth possible. Spain licensed others ability to use their slaves and transport goods, and in addition France and the Netherlands used monopoly companies. Due to this, formidable companies emerged all over. Such companies operated in major ports to construct, finance, insure, and organize slave ships and their cargoes. This slave trade made many countries in business, to say the least.
The reasons given by some colonists that were in favor of slavery was that slavery was a key element in southern colonies that depended heavily on their farm economies. “Many slaves lived on large farms called plantations. These plantations produced important crops traded by the colony, crops such as cotton and tobacco. Each plantation was like a small village owned by one family. That family lived in a large house, usually facing a river. Many separate buildings were needed on a plantation. For example, a building was needed for cooking. And buildings were needed for workers to produce goods such as furniture that were used on the plantation” (Voa, 2012). On the other hand, the colonists that were further north such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut had some of the lowest slavery rates within the colonies. Some colonists opposed the concept of slavery on moral and religious grounds.
Sources:
- “Division and Reunion – Slavery and the Civil War.” AMERICAN HISTORY RULES!, americanhistoryrules.com/divisionandreunion/the-origins-of-slavery-in-america/
- “Slavery in the Americas.” Slavery and Remembrance, slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0011
- “Transatlantic Slave Trade.” Slavery and Remembrance, slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0002
- Columbian Exchange. Brain Wrinkles, 2013
- Major Problems in American History, Cobbs, Blum, 2015
- Voa. “AMERICAN HISTORY: Slavery in the American South.” VOA, VOA, 25 Oct. 2012, learningenglish.voanews.com/a/1532857.html
