Effects the Columbian Exchange

Effects of the Columbian Exchange!
Once Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, a new world was opened up to Europe. Europeans suddenly realized they weren’t the only civilizations in the world. They discovered new cultures, metals, foods, and products. Europeans exported and traded these products back to Europe and Africa. Soon they formed a triangular trade route called the Columbian Exchange. As the exchange spread new valuables and foods to Europe, European nations became quick to snatch up lands and resources that came with it. These new resources led to better the nutrition of the people and a steady population rise. But as populations and wealth increased inflation began to appear. New foods and animals brought from the New World caused European living to improve and populations to rise. The Columbian Exchange transferred new, tropical foods to the Europeans. The new products provided more nutrients which improved the diets of the people. As well, more food was being imported into countries which let nations be able to feed more people. As malnutrition and starvation begun to diminish, European populations started to rise. For example, in Ireland the new world plant, potato, was adopted as a primary food source. The potato is full of carbohydrates, calories, vitamin A, and vitamin C. More people began to eat the potato, and their health began to improve. People begun to live longer, women didn’t die during birth, and people had enough food to eat. The Columbian Exchange proved to be excellent for the population of the European people. As more new food came into Europe populations began to skyrocket. The rush of establishing markets, colonies, and find valuable resources led to a new economic policy of Mercantilism. Mercantilism was the belief that a nation’s power is dependent on how much gold and silver it had, and that there was a limited amount of this wealth in the world. Thus European nations fought to establish colonies to mine for silver and gold. Some countries even made laws to limit trade and loss of gold. In 1651 Oliver Cromwell, monarch of England, enforced the Navigation Acts. This law stated all British goods be transported only on British ships. The Navigation Acts created a monopoly over the British colonies. The colonies had to ship their good on British ships, so they were forced to buy almost all of their good from Britain. This was a Mercantilist idea because Britain’s economy benefited from the Acts due to more of the wealth flowed into the country and little left. Once the new world was discovered every country began to believe in the competitive philosophy of Mercantilism. The Columbian Exchange heightened the fight over the wealth of the world. Due to the competition, and intake of gold and silver Europeans’ wealth started to rise; along with the wealth the demands also increased, causing inflation. Europeans had more people to feed and money to spend, so they had more demand for goods. But the supply of goods was less then what the people wanted so prices in Europe rose. Spain, in the 1600’s, imported boats of silver from the Americas. The country’s wealth skyrocketed, at that same time Spain’s population was steadily increasing. The population plus the sudden wealth increase caused product demand to boom. Spain was not ready for this and was hit with drastic inflation. The Columbian Exchange brought in enormous wealth, but unknowingly brought high demands that nations could not meet. Inflation began to spread over Europe. The Columbian Exchange was a major turning point in European society. Imports of new foods to Europe proved positive for the people. Diets improved, death rates slowed, and populations increased. Wealth of nations also rose. A new economic policy called Mercantilism encouraged countries to increase their wealth and power. But as countries wealth and populations increased, so did the demand fro goods. Inflation began to sprout up, because the nations could not keep up with these demands. The Columbian Exchange proved to be beneficial to Europe’s population and economy, but also brought along some hardships.