The Columbian Exchange had a gigantic effect on the American societies. The disease pools, the transfer of animals and crops, and the migration of people. These effects have greatly affected the Americas and the world.
The once isolated disease pools of the Eurasian landmass and the American landmass had now been joined through the transoceanic migration. This had an enormous impact on the American civilizations. Diseases such as small pox, influenza, and measles were epidemic to the societies in America, because the people had no immunities to these diseases. These diseases wiped out some societies completely and shrunk other societies up to 95 percent. Because of the Columbian Exchange over 100 million people died from 1500-1800 because of diseases alone.
Unlike the transfer of disease, the transfer of animals and food crops increased the population of the world. In the Americas there were relatively few domesticated animals; of those animals only chickens provided a decent amount of food. Cattle, horses, and goats found there way over to America. Cattle transformed the American grasses into meat and milk that humans could digest. The plant transfer also had a huge impact on the world. Plants such as corn, beans, tomatoes, and potatoes took root in Eurasia, completely altering the Eurasian diet to one with higher amounts of proteins, and vitamins.
The Columbian exchange also consisted of the transfer of human population via transoceanic migration. From 1500-1800 the largest transfer of people were enslaved Africans that were taken to the Americas and the Caribbean. The smaller amount of people that made their way across the Atlantic were the Europeans who came to America in order to settle the vast land that was vacated by the natives because disease wiped them out.
These events have profoundly influenced the modern world. The Earth is now one disease pool. Corn and other crops that were transferred from 1500-1800 are feeding people all over the world.
