What Caused The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange was an exchange of commodities and livestock between the Native Americans, the Europeans, and the Africans after 1492 C.E. within the New World. When the Europeans and Africans began exploring this new world, there were a multitude of new plants, animals, and germs which were exchanged. This exchange caused massive devastation for the Native Americans as these natives had no antibodies to the diseases brought over by the Europeans and Africans. Along with this exchange came new cultural influences and disastrous outcomes. Also as the Europeans and Africans began to invade the Native American territory, major environmental changes began to take place. The Atlantic World would forevermore be altered. While new colonies were being set up, the Europeans introduced a wide variety of livestock to the Native American people many of which had never been seen in the New World. Livestock such as cattle, horses, swine, sheep, and chickens began devouring many indigenous vegetation causing wild animals that had fed on these plants to migrate elsewhere for food. As this caused the natives to lose one major food source, the livestock which roamed free …show more content…
Because the Native Americans had no immunities to deadly diseases such as small pox, these epidemics spread at an alarming rate. Entire towns perished without anyone left to bury the deceased. Moreover, within the next fifty years, the population of natives which began at an estimated one million would drastically decrease to merely five hundred men, women, and children said one Spanish observer. Consequently, Europeans could easily setup up new colonies throughout the Americas with or without military support due to the germs exchanged and how it had effected the natives on a massive