Christopher Columbus was one of the greatest explorers and navigators in the early 15th centuries. History books remember him from his 1942 voyage to the West Indies from Spain (McNeill par 1). The voyage orchestrated the European colonization in Americas. Throughout his trips, he used the Atlantic Ocean four times from Spain in the quest to find a direct connection between Asia and Europe. The trips were in the year, 1502, 1492, 1493 and 1498. However, he did not manage to find one though he came to ‘discover’ the Americas. In his stay in Americas, he adopted their way of life and language which came in handy during the Colombian exchange. However, there are different thoughts on whether the Colombian exchange was good or bad to its people.
The Columbus Exchange featured the trade of plants, animals, human population, ideas, technology and culture between the Afro-Eurasian and Americans (McNeill par 3). It occurred between 15th and 16th centuries. The connection brought forth advances to the two hemispheres in terms of better yields, advancement in the way of life and colonization. The Europeans went back to their countries with ships full of tomatoes, maize, and potatoes. They instantly became important crops in the region by the 18th century. The introduction of peanut and manioc to West Africa and tropical Asia brought forth high yields due to the favorable soil (McNeill par 5). However, it brought about new diseases that attacked the native people and communities leading to the decrease in population especially on the indigenous people found in Americas. Such kind of diseases include measles and chicken pox
Despite the radical spike of diseases during the exchange, the move helped the hemispheres grow by sharing their resources and adopting new ways of making their lives better. Apart from that, it opened up the countries to the world, bridging connections between them. The bridged paved way for further experiments and tests where it showed successful results. In conclusion, the Columbus Exchange was beneficial to the communities and countries involved despite the negative perspectives.
Work Cited
McNeill, J. R. The Columbian Exchange. 2015. Web. 3 February 2016. < http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-twoworlds/1866 >
