Negative Effects Of Conquest Exploration And Exchange
September 24nd, 2014 Bianca Teixeira
Conquest, Exploration and Exchange Essay
The conquest of the New World by Europeans had both positive and negative affects for both the conquered peoples and the Europeans. Although the Exploration benefited many people, it negatively affected the people in the New World enormously. Christopher Columbus decided to travel to the New World where he thought he has discovered Asia when in reality he had reached what is today the Bahamas. It was only acceptable for Columbus to assume his discovery due to his lack of knowledge of geography. After his discovery, there were various exchanges occurring with goods, …show more content…
Not only was their slavery involved with the exchanges, but also an exchange of diseases. Diseases such as smallpox, influenza, malaria and whooping cough were just the few that affected the New World. “Europeans inadvertently carried diseases that had a devastating effect on the native population of America that lacked immunities.” These diseases had such an affect on the New World that “the population of Mexico dropped by more than 90 percent in the century after Cortés arrived in 1519.” The people of the New World were not able to cure themselves because they were exposed to diseases that they weren’t familiar with. This resulted in numerous deaths all across the New World and became an epidemic that affected not only the culture, but also the way of life in the New World. Slavery was also a horrible result of the Columbian exchange as well. Europeans bought people from the New World to work for them as their slaved. People were beaten and treated inhumanly for all the wrong reasons. Even though the exchange involved goods, people were also mistreated and used as materials. There is nothing that can be exchanged that is worth more than the value of a human being. The Europeans took that away from the people of the New World. Many natives also lost their homes and their way of life due to the explorers taking over their land. Many were forced to become a part of Christianity due to Christopher Columbus’ want to spread his faith. Many people were forced to convert religions due to this demand. People had their lives in order and had already built a lifestyle for themselves before the European explorers arrived. The exchange of goods means nothing compared to how the lives of so many people were affected. Many were affected emotionally and mentally just because the explorers decided to take matters into their own hands and change places
Conquest, Exploration and Exchange Essay
The conquest of the New World by Europeans had both positive and negative affects for both the conquered peoples and the Europeans. Although the Exploration benefited many people, it negatively affected the people in the New World enormously. Christopher Columbus decided to travel to the New World where he thought he has discovered Asia when in reality he had reached what is today the Bahamas. It was only acceptable for Columbus to assume his discovery due to his lack of knowledge of geography. After his discovery, there were various exchanges occurring with goods, …show more content…
Not only was their slavery involved with the exchanges, but also an exchange of diseases. Diseases such as smallpox, influenza, malaria and whooping cough were just the few that affected the New World. “Europeans inadvertently carried diseases that had a devastating effect on the native population of America that lacked immunities.” These diseases had such an affect on the New World that “the population of Mexico dropped by more than 90 percent in the century after Cortés arrived in 1519.” The people of the New World were not able to cure themselves because they were exposed to diseases that they weren’t familiar with. This resulted in numerous deaths all across the New World and became an epidemic that affected not only the culture, but also the way of life in the New World. Slavery was also a horrible result of the Columbian exchange as well. Europeans bought people from the New World to work for them as their slaved. People were beaten and treated inhumanly for all the wrong reasons. Even though the exchange involved goods, people were also mistreated and used as materials. There is nothing that can be exchanged that is worth more than the value of a human being. The Europeans took that away from the people of the New World. Many natives also lost their homes and their way of life due to the explorers taking over their land. Many were forced to become a part of Christianity due to Christopher Columbus’ want to spread his faith. Many people were forced to convert religions due to this demand. People had their lives in order and had already built a lifestyle for themselves before the European explorers arrived. The exchange of goods means nothing compared to how the lives of so many people were affected. Many were affected emotionally and mentally just because the explorers decided to take matters into their own hands and change places