Columbian Exchange

Colonialism is achieved through the transfer of people to a new territory or region who live as permanent settlers. These people take advantage of the resources on the land that they are on and stay true to the country that they are under. The Colonialism of America occurred because of the advancements in new discoveries, new maps and navigation technology enabling ships to bring people to the New World.

The colonial legacy is a term used to describe the changes and advancements that affect nations and regions that are governed by invasive colonial rulers. In many places around the world, colonialism brought a change in many different parts of society, including government structure and organization, political practices and even economics. During the colonial period from 1607-1763, there were many different event or advancements that shaped American development politically, economically, socially, and religiously.

One political event that occurred during the colonial period that shaped American development was the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses. The House of Burgesses was the first legislature that took place in the English colonies in America. Its first meeting was on July 30, 1619 and its first order of business was to set a minimum price for the sale of tobacco. There were 22 members of the House of Burgesses and they were elected by the colony. The House of Burgesses could make laws and only met once a year at first. The creation of this legislative house helped shape American development because it was one of the first steps towards a growth in a representative democracy.

In the colonial era, they began to host town meetings and elect the people they wanted to govern their colony because that is what they believed was fair and that is how they wanted to run their towns. They did not want to have a dictator like in other countries of the world but they liked the idea of having a democracy and having it so that everyone had their own say and their own chance to do what they wanted to do. During the period known as salutary neglect, the inattention from the English allowed the colony to form their own self-rule and decide how they wanted to govern themselves. The Virginia House of Burgesses was a huge step towards the change to a representative democracy and who knows where we would be without the creation of it today.

A good example of an economic event that shaped American development was the columbian exchange. The Columbian Exchange was an enormous network of communication. It was the exchange of goods and other things from the Old World to the New World and back. America would send corn, potatoes, cassava, peanuts and silver to Europe and in return Europe would send us rice, sugarcane, grapes, horses, pigs, cattle, goats, sheep, and slavery. This was such a positive effect because it started a network of trade between different countries and it allowed everyone to receive all the materials and food they needed to be able to sustain a good life.

The Columbian Exchange was also a negative effect on this time period. The Old World brought numerous infectious diseases such as the bubonic plague, chicken pox, cholera, leprosy, malaria, measles, typhoid, and the common cold. America would bring the disease known as syphilis to the Old World. Although the trading of goods was very beneficial, it was not good because these diseases were spreading because of the trade and it caused a lot of outbreaks and epidemics worldwide.

The Columbian Exchange shaped American development because it established a network between America and several other countries. Although there were diseases, it did allow America to focus on the medical industry more and figure out how to stop these diseases. These smallpox outbreaks during the colonial era eventually led to the eradication of the disease more recently. The Columbian exchange definitely helped shape America’s economy because it allowed us to trade our excess goods for goods that we needed to be able to sustain life instead of us having to spend our own money on them.

An example of an event that shaped America’s development socially during the colonial era is the Salem Witch Trials. During the Salem Witch Trials, there were a series of cases brought before the local magistrates and the county court of trials in 1692. The trials lasted for three months from June to September in the year of 1692. Many of the people accused were mainly women, but there was a small majority of men who who usually relatives of the woman accused. The Salem Witch Trials resulted in 19 people being sentenced to death by hanging in Puritan Massachusetts.

The Salem Witch Trials helped shape America’s social development because it was basically all the talk of the people. It was he-said she-said and that is how it became a huge situation. One girl would see something and gossip about what she saw to everyone around town and eventually it would be turned into some sort of suspicious behavior and a girl would be accused of witchcraft. This affected the colonies socially because it gave them a sense of what was right of them to do and what was wrong.

They realized that what they said actually made a difference because once they accused a woman of witchcraft that was it, she would be sentenced to death because there really was no way for you to defend yourself against that accusation. I believe the Salem Witch Trials affected us socially because it had a lot to do with the interactions between different people. I also believe that it helped shape America because it was such a huge event and now Massachusetts is known for it; no one will ever forget the events that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts.

A religious event that occurred during the colonial period that helped shape America as the great awakening. The Great Awakening was a period of time in history in which they participated in religious awakening and reform. It was a series of religious revivals that swept over all of the American colonies that were led by Protestant ministers. The Great Awakening played a role in the everyday lives of American colonists. Since Protestant Churches and ministers were concerned for the spiritual well being of their congregations, they believed it was necessary to put these revivals into motion.

The Great Awakening during the colonial period helped shape the development of America because the faith of the church was revived. They spread their word and strengthened the faith of their current worshippers in the process. In order for religoin to grow and prosper over such a long period of time it is very important to make sure that you have a strong base to build and grow from and that is what they did here. This impacts America because if their religion was not revived, their followers may have lost faith and then that religion would have been lost forever.

The colonial era was an important time in our history because it was the time in which America was first being created. The colonists took life into their own hands and took several steps and participated in an abundance of events that led to where we are today. Without these developments, life today may have been completely different. The colonial legacy that they have left behind is one of the most important parts of our nations history. These events and developments in 1607-1763 shaped American Development.

The Columbian Exchange had a profound influence on the vast spread of plants, animals, culture, human populations, and many infectious and contagious diseases through trade in both North America and Western Europe. The Columbian Exchange began in 1492, when Christopher Columbus set sail on his voyage to the Americas. Although it created an enormous increase in food supply and productivity, and human population, it also damaged the ecological stability of many large areas. In North America, the Columbian Exchange had a positive influence as well as negative.

North America received many domesticated animals from the Old World, including horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, and fowl. Although the animals provided valuable food, clothing, and energy sources, they caused mixed emotions in the Indians because the animals severely damaged important croplands. Not only did North America receive animals, but new plants too; America received plants such as black pepper, barley, wheat, rice, lettuce, sugarcane, and rhubarb. They received domestic plants, animals and other goods from Africa, Asia and India as well.

The Old World also exposed North America to numerous infectious and contagious diseases: including bubonic plague, chicken pox, cholera, influenza, leprosy, malaria, measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, typhoid, typhus, yellow fever, and yaws. Since the indigenous peoples had no immunity to these diseases, they took a major toll on the Indian population, causing a significant demographic decline. The indigenous people also suffered from the brutality and the expropriation of farmland from the Europeans.

Aside from the negative, the Columbian Exchange allowed North America to grow and develop into a functional and effective civilization. Through the Columbian Exchange, Western Europe had the opportunity to expand their trade routes across the Atlantic basin, linking with Asian and Indian markets. In addition, Columbus’ voyage to the New World (America) inspired many Europeans to migrate there. Transoceanic migration to the Americas by the Western Europeans, gave Europe much more power in multiple places than they had previously had.

As the Indian population declined due to disease and such, Europeans continued to pour into the Americas. Like North America, Western Europe received many domesticated plants because of the Columbian Exchange such as potato, corn, cotton, vanilla, and tobacco. In Ireland specifically, potatoes became a staple food for society. Crops such as sugarcane and tobacco were in high demand at this time in Western Europe; they were “cash crops” which increasingly improved agricultural prosperity and economy.

An improving economy lead to growing cities; this is all attributed to the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange had a profound influence on the vast spread of plants, animals, culture, human populations, and many infectious and contagious diseases through trade in both North America and Western Europe. The effects of the Columbian Exchange on Western Europe differ from that of North America in many ways; yet, there are also many similarities. It increased prosperity in both regions.