Richard Williams, III Essays (574 words) - Americas,

Richard Williams, III Fitz-Gerald 10.17.2016 Columbian Exchange The Columbian Exchange was a transfer of animals, plants, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds. This took place between the 15th and 16th centuries, caused after the colonization of America after the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. During the trade, well-known crops and cash crops were interchanges. Some of the crops were potatoes, which were originally from South America but became a dependent food source in Ireland, as an important part of a stable diet. Tomatoes, which derived from the Americas became a prized plant in Italy for their sauces and ornamental values. Also among the plants traded were oranges, bananas, Paprika, Coffee Beans, Pineapples, Rubber Trees, Chili Peppers and Chocolate. Livestock was another major trade in the Columbian Exchange. Europe brought horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs, cat, and bees to the Americas. These new animals changed the way the Native American tribes and the Colonial Civilizations lived, hunted, and traveled. The worst part of the Columbian Exchange has to be the transmission of diseases from the Old World to the New World and vice versa. The Europeans coming to the Americas brought smallpox. Smallpox was one of the worst epidemics the world has ever faced with an estimated 300 Million People killed in the 20th century alone. This virus kills of the people infected with it and has been around for thousands of years in the Old World but the native americans and local people of the New World were not accustomed to the disease and suffered greatly. An American disease that affected Europeans was Malaria. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes and other parasitics or "dependent" organisms with need to feed off or live in another organism. This disease however, was not as devastating as smallpox due to the New World Discovery of Quinine, which was the earliest form of treatment. Yellow Fever was brought to the Americas during the Atlantic Slave Trade and many of the Native Americans and Afr ican descendants have built immunizations but the arriving Europeans coming from the Old World have never experienced this disease to this magnitude. The unintentional introductions into the Americas were almost as plentiful as the intentional introductions. Plants that arrived by land, sea, or air in the times before 1492 are called archaeophytes , and plants introduced to Europe after those times are called neophytes . In addition to the diseases mentioned above, many species of organisms were introduced to new habitats on the other side of the world accidentally or incidentally. These include such animals as brown rats , earthworms (apparently absent from parts of the pre-Columbian New World), and zebra mussels , which arrived on ships. Invasive species of plants and pathogens also were introduced by chance, including such weeds as tumbleweeds ( Salsola spp.) and wild oats ( Avena fatua ). Some plants introduced intentionally, such as the kudzu vine introduced in 1894 from Japan to the United States to help control soil erosion , have since been found to be invasi ve pests in the new environment. Fungi have been transported, such as the one responsible for Dutch elm disease , killing American elms in North American forests and cities, where many had been planted as street trees. Some of the invasive species have become serious ecosystem and economic problems after establishing in the New World environments. Richard Williams, III Essays (574 words) - Americas, Richard Williams, III Fitz-Gerald 10.17.2016 Columbian Exchange The Columbian Exchange was a transfer of animals, plants, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds. This took place between the 15th and 16th centuries, caused after the colonization of America after the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. During the trade, well-known crops and cash crops were interchanges. Some of the crops were potatoes, which were originally from South America but became a dependent food source in Ireland, as an important part of a stable diet. Tomatoes, which derived from the Americas became a prized plant in Italy for their sauces and ornamental values. Also among the plants traded were oranges, bananas, Paprika, Coffee Beans, Pineapples, Rubber Trees, Chili Peppers and Chocolate. Livestock was another major trade in the Columbian Exchange. Europe brought horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs, cat, and bees to the Americas. These new animals changed the way the Native American tribes and the Colonial Civilizations lived, hunted, and traveled. The worst part of the Columbian Exchange has to be the transmission of diseases from the Old World to the New World and vice versa. The Europeans coming to the Americas brought smallpox. Smallpox was one of the worst epidemics the world has ever faced with an estimated 300 Million People killed in the 20th century alone. This virus kills of the people infected with it and has been around for thousands of years in the Old World but the native americans and local people of the New World were not accustomed to the disease and suffered greatly. An American disease that affected Europeans was Malaria. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes and other parasitics or "dependent" organisms with need to feed off or live in another organism. This disease however, was not as devastating as smallpox due to the New World Discovery of Quinine, which was the earliest form of treatment. Yellow Fever was brought to the Americas during the Atlantic Slave Trade and many of the Native Americans and Afr ican descendants have built immunizations but the arriving Europeans coming from the Old World have never experienced this disease to this magnitude. The unintentional introductions into the Americas were almost as plentiful as the intentional introductions. Plants that arrived by land, sea, or air in the times before 1492 are called archaeophytes , and plants introduced to Europe after those times are called neophytes . In addition to the diseases mentioned above, many species of organisms were introduced to new habitats on the other side of the world accidentally or incidentally. These include such animals as brown rats , earthworms (apparently absent from parts of the pre-Columbian New World), and zebra mussels , which arrived on ships. Invasive species of plants and pathogens also were introduced by chance, including such weeds as tumbleweeds ( Salsola spp.) and wild oats ( Avena fatua ). Some plants introduced intentionally, such as the kudzu vine introduced in 1894 from Japan to the United States to help control soil erosion , have since been found to be invasi ve pests in the new environment. Fungi have been transported, such as the one responsible for Dutch elm disease , killing American elms in North American forests and cities, where many had been planted as street trees. Some of the invasive species have become serious ecosystem and economic problems after establishing in the New World environments.