The Columbian Exchange

            The Columbian Exchange era began in 1492 when Christopher Columbus settled to the new land which was later called America. America's resources are the reason for the success that Europe had from the Columbian Exchange. Studied by historian Alfred Crosby, this was a process in which the animals, plants, and bacteria life mixed in the New Worlds. It was a time of cultural exchanges between the New World and the Old World. In this time, many people were making discoveries that would affect the Worlds in a positive way, but also some discoveries would be negative. The positive discoveries from the Columbian exchange that would help the expansion of Europe was technology, plants, and animals. The downfall that was brought with the Columbian Exchange was the fast spread of disease though the New Worlds.
             Europe became a powerhouse because of the discovery of new technology such as a written alphabet, new farming equipment, new weapons and firearms, and architecture. Europeans introduced the written alphabet to the natives during the Columbian exchange to improve trade. Not only did they teach them the alphabet for trade, but they taught them it because they wanted to educate the natives about religion. The Europeans wanted the natives to convert their beliefs to Christianity. This discovery of the alphabet was a huge reason for Europeans technological success. One of the biggest technological advancements in the New World was the discovery of the plow. Livestock would drag the plow across the land in order to gain more area. The plow would allow for the Europeans to own more land and to own more plants. The Europeans soon discovered that the soil in the new lands was very rich and that it could be used to their advantage. Because of the rich soil, new towns were being built and more crops were being planted. This led to an Agricultural outburst for the Europeans. New weapons and firearms were also introduced to the Natives during the Columbian Exchange.