Native American Civilizations In The New World

The development of Native American civilizations in the New World differed from those in the Old World because they did not have the resources transport and communicate like the Old World did. The New World did not have horses or any other draft animals, so they relied on man power alone. Major civilizations were not all located along major rivers, and due to the difficulties traveling presented them with, had very poor communication with one another. They were also faced with the disadvantage of geographic isolation from the rest of the world. Despite these setbacks, the Native Americans were still able to create astoundingly complex civilizations, with surprisingly similar characteristics to eastern hemisphere civilizations. Similarities
were found in the art and architecture of both hemispheres. Another similarity between the hemispheres was war. Both engaged in physical fighting as a means to solve disputes. The Old World experienced advancement more rapidly than the New World. Old World civilizations had the geographical advantage of being close to each other, which gave them the opportunity to transfer ideas. Close proximity also helped Old World civilizations develop stronger immune systems, as they were constantly introduced to new diseases.
The biological exchange, also known as the Columbian Exchange, occurred after Europeans made first contact with the New World. There were positive and negative things introduced to both sides. The New World gave the Old World almost all beneficial things, including gold, silver, corn (maize), tobacco, and cotton. The biological exchange worked mostly in the Old World's favor. They profited greatly from these new discoveries, especially the gold. The Old World introduced things such as horses, pigs, cows, and sugar to the New World. Horses transformed the lives of the Natives. These animals allowed for the improvement of transportation and communication, as well as hunting and warfare. The Old World also brought about very bad things such as rats and diseases. Because Native Americans had no immunity to European diseases, they were absolutely devastated by them. The Native American population decreased dramatically.
Although impossible for the time, if the cure to smallpox would have been available then, not nearly as many Native peoples would have died. If the New World was still left with most of their population, they might have been able to effectively resist European invasion. They might even have been able to completely deter the Old World from exploiting them, resulting in the New World actually gaining more from the exchange than the Old World did, and peacefully going back to how things were for them before.