With the discovery of the New World (modern United States of America) by Christopher Columbus in the end of 15th century, a new trade route was established across the Atlantic Ocean which helped in bridging the gap between the New World and the Old World. There had been a continuous trade and exchange of goods, crops and animals from Old World to New World which helps the Europeans to establish their own farms, factories, refining mills and to become wealthy in a short period of time. Along with commodities and other necessary living items, many diseases have also been exchanged between both the worlds, which were previously unknown to them. This overall biological exchange which altered the face of the entire world is termed in history as the Columbian Exchange, which certainly impacted both the worlds in many ways. At that time, the natives of the new world were American-Indian tribes. They lack far behind from the Europeans in terms of modes of living, intelligence and means of trade. Europeans on the other hand, were enlightened in science, arts, agriculture, literature and philosophy and thus dominated the natives of the new world in every way. They made their colonies over the new land and made the local natives their slaves.
The impacts over the people of both the new and old worlds can be further illustrated with the help of exchange of goods and commodities during the Columbian Exchange. Along with many other items that were exchanged between the two continents, an important commodity had been sugar cane. The climate of the New World was highly favorable for the cultivation of sugar cane; therefore it was first introduced on American soil by Columbus on his second voyage. On the other hand, the rising demand of sugar in Europe forced the people to look for new sources, the only previous source of sugar being the bees and their honey. Sugar had begun to be used both as a commodity and as a consumable item in Atlantic trade. Initially sugar was a luxury reserved only for elites but as it gradually gained popularity among common people, its demand increased many fold. Sugar was not only a good calorie source but was also taken as a relaxant with drinks like tea and coffee in major areas of Europe.
The collaboration of the native American-Indians and the Europeans was at disparity due to lack of cultural and lingual understanding. When Europeans arrived at the new land and sought to cultivate sugar cane for the establishment of sugar industry, they faced the problem of lack of labor for agriculture and cultivation purposes. So they forced Native American Indians to do labor for them in exchange of their lives and culture. Many of them were enslaved too and were forced to live in a piece of land granted by the Europeans. Native Indians who were never ready for such situation, tried to get rid of the invaders as much as possible, but since they lack the basic tactics of war, necessary equipment and intelligent schemes, they failed in their rebellious movements. As a result of such tyranny, most native American-Indians migrated further towards the main land while some were killed by the Europeans colonizers. Those who left behind and survived from the killing could not survive from the new diseases which were brought by the Europeans to their world. They had not developed immunities for the diseases which arrived from the old world, including small pox, chicken pox, measles, mumps etc. Both the native humans and animals die in a large number as a result of killing and spread of diseases. It is estimated that almost 90% of the entire native Indian population died since the discovery of new world in 1492 till 1650.
The situation became as much miserable that the Europeans fall short of labor for cultivation of crops and they had to import African slaves for the purpose. These African labors were hard workers, resistant against diseases, had developed skills of cultivations and were well aware with the climate along the coastal lines. Thus the owners of sugar factories keep residing in Europe while their executives looked after the cultivation and production of sugar in America. They toiled the fields and worked in the boiling houses. Within a short time, several English, Dutch and French sugar colonies were established. The raw sugar produced in the New World by the cultivation of sugar cane was sent to Europe from where it was exported to the other countries. The molasses that left behind was turned into rum and thus the sugar industry kept on flourishing. Since then, the trade of sugar acquired a significant place in Atlantic economy. However, it again had some drastic impacts over the natives of the new world since African slaves brought more diseases in the region, which killed almost the entire of the remaining 10% of the native population.
Thus it can be easily understood the although apparently, it was the Europe who get the most benefit from the discovery of new world and through Columbian exchange, yet the land was introduced to new crops which were initially not a part of it. Oranges, for example, were brought to the land by Spanish explorers and it has now become one of the largest export commodities of US. Maize, which was initially the product of the new world only, was introduced to other parts of the world too. Potato was the commodity which was welcomed on a large scale by Europeans and is considered one of the causes of industrial revolution because of population explosion. Sugar has always remained a dominant commodity in Atlantic trade and those who exchanged it became the wealthiest of all. Brazil still stands in the list of top sugar cane producers. About 45% of the total demand of sugar cane is met by US out of what the Caribbean and the Latin America contributed about 94% .Thus both the new and old worlds benefited from the Columbian exchange in many ways.
Bibliography
Crosby, Alfred W. 2003. The Columbian exchange: biological and cultural consequences of 1492. Westport, Conn: Pager.
Galloway, J. H. 1989. The sugar cane industry: an historical geography from its origins to 1914. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press.
Inikori, J. E. 2002. Africans and the industrial revolution in England: a study in international trade and economic development. New York: Cambridge University Press.
McNeill, J.R. (n.d).The Columbian Exchange. Learn NC. Accessed June 5, 2013 from <http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/1866>
Sokolov, Raymond. A. 1991. Why we eat what we eat: How the encounter between the New World and the Old changed the way everyone on the planet eats. New York, N.Y: Summit Books.
