What Is The Columbian Exchange

he Columbian Exchange is best known for the exchange of goods between the new and old worlds across the Atlantic Ocean. This exchange impacted major changes among the Indians, Africans, and Europeans. After it was confirmed that a new world existed, explorers began making their way to the new world. The Old world refers to Asia, Africa, and Europe. The New World refers to mostly North and South America. Columbus first made a discovery in 1492, but he is not sure to be the first to visit the Americas. The Columbian Exchange had a major influence on the social and traditional makeup of both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. At first the discovery of the New World was not good news to the Europeans. The Europeans underestimated the size of the Atlantic Ocean, assuming it was very narrow. They discovered the Americas while trying to reach Asia. Asia was known to have a lot of riches and good natural resources. Once other people found out about the existence …show more content…
Europeans clearly benefited the most out of the Columbian Exchange. As a result of the Columbian Exchange, I would say that the Africans lost a great deal because they lost their culture and humanity. They basically ended up lasting longer in slavery than any other nationality. Since the Africans’ immunities were greater than the Native Americans, they replaced Indians as slaves. However, being that the Indians lost their land, many lost their lives due to exposure of the European diseases and were forced into European religion, they were impacted greatly. The Columbian Exchange is the reason why Indian nations collapsed and European colonies thrived. Because of the Columbian Exchange, the European nations rapidly became the wealthiest and most powerful in the world. In the my opinion, the Africans and Indians both lost a great deal, but because the Indian lost their land I conclude that the Native Americans lost the