Columbian Exchange DBQ

Since the 15th century the world has changed because of the Columbian Exchange. It has continued to change the world up until the 21st century with new discoveries every day. The interactions between the Indians and the Europeans along with the cultural differences and social differences developed the Columbian Exchange.

The interactions during the Columbian Exchange include how Columbus led to the two hemispheres and continued to intertwine the two together and how they have been isolated for so long. If it wasn’t for Columbus, we wouldn’t have started trade routes with the New World, which is very clearly a positive impact (Doc. 6). As soon as Columbus arrived in the New World with his crewman; diseases spread like a wildfire, a negative impact. Columbus brought smallpox, the disease that so ravaged Tenochtitlan on the eve of Cortes’s final siege, and measles. The Indians spread STD’s to the crewman from having sexual interactions with one another (Doc. 7). In document 8 it basically shows a visual of the trade routes and what was traded during the Columbian Exchange and what was traded between the New World and the Old World. The trading of crops from the Americans helped a lot throughout the years and still does today.

These crops that were grown in the New World helped people stay healthier and stay energized to maintain a good working day. Animals were also included in the Columbian Exchange. The Europeans brought over horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle and they were all very useful because they reproduced quickly and didn’t have to be herded (Doc 9). In the New World they had very little animals because the humans had been living there and had lived in dense populations, cities, for a short time compared to the Old World. The main problem was probably the lack of domesticated herd animals (Doc 10).

The university system and school of the West Indies shows how different schooling and the culture is in the New World and the Old World. In Document 2 it explains how the lecture halls in the school are excellent and how the chapel is very fine, but the most remarkable feature is the amphitheater. That shows that religion is very prominent in the schooling system. Columbus wanted to explore outside of the Old World from just plain curiosity and curiosity was a part of European culture (Doc. 4). Coffee and sugar aren’t normally considered the cause for unhappiness but in this case, it is. When the coffee and sugar was imported from the New World into the Old World, it had caused diseases once consumed (Doc. 11).

For an additional document I think I would be benefited by knowing more about the spread of disease. Mainly about the different kinds of diseases spread between the New World and the Old World and how each disease affected the people. I would like to know the different side effects of measles and smallpox.

The Spaniards had made a new law that henceforward, no Indians shall be made slaves in the New World. Socially, this impacted the Indians a lot. It gave them their freedom from slavery, out of any unpaid debt. Although there was slavery during the Columbian Exchange, it was nothing compared to the slavery during the Civil War (Doc. 1). The inhabitants of the Lima are composed of whites, or Spaniards, Negroes, Indians, Mestizos, and other casts, proceeding from the mixture of all three. It is 17th century by this time and the population in the New World has expanded greatly, a positive impact. If you were a descendent of the Spaniard King, you were respectable and known around their area, which could be considered positive for those specific people (Doc. 3).

The Indian population fell so tremendously in the first 100 years after the first white man appeared in the New World. That is mainly because of disease. This is a very negative affect of the Columbian Exchange. As the men had interactions with the Indian women, the women contributed STD’s to the white men who then had sexual interactions with the white women and so on and so forth. Due to the diseases that were transmitted between the people it caused a great decrease in population (Doc. 5).

The Columbian Exchange has greatly impacted the New World and even the Old World. It has many positive and negative impacts on them both but the negativity was easily overcame. The positivity Columbus brought helped the growth of the New World into something great. The interactions between the Indians and the White weren’t so great at the start but it ended up being the best idea Columbus has made in coming to search for the New World.