The Exchange in the Americas

The Columbian Exchange was a major event that shaped the way the world is today. It was a cultural transfer among new regions that involved widespread transfer of people, plants, animals, technology, and disease. It was named after Christopher Columbus, who was credited with finding the Americas and creating the passage into this New World that was unknown to other continents. The introduction to high-calorie crops in the Americas were extremely crucial in the Columbian Exchange. New crops such as potatoes, maize, rice, and cassava allowed for an extreme rise in population growth. With these new crops they needed workers to work the crops, this would set up a social class system, exchanging and buying of slaves from mainly Africa. The Exchange intermingled many different peoples from all over the world, with many of these people came from Africa and Europe. With these people came disease and famine to the Americas, which killed or sickened many of the natives of the region. 

Some of the major crops still have a major impact on the way the world operates today agriculturally. The crops that the Europeans brought over in the Columbian Exchange shaped Colombia for centuries to come. Europeans brought over crops such as maize, potatoes, cassava, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and rice. These were all very high-calorie crops that as we know today, give plenty of energy and nutritional value to humans. This allowed for a major increase in the population in the Americas. Some of the crops that came from the South American region were bell peppers, chili peppers, vanilla, sugar, beans, pumpkin, avocados, pineapples, blueberries, etc. Many of these foods we know today came from regions that were all over the world, and the reason that they were so important in dealing with the Columbia Exchange is because the Exchange allowed us to intermingle and to spread different cultures around the globe. But with all the new people coming to the Americas, diseases such as smallpox and measles became a major factor as far as population is concerned. This ended up hurting the population for a while. However, since agriculture in Colombia was doing so great, this allowed for an increase in population rather than a diminishing one. 

The Columbian Exchange greatly affected the country of Colombia today because without the Colombian Exchange, the country would not have their staple crops to rely on, and agriculture is Colombia’s biggest commodity. Coffee is the biggest export in Colombia today, and this was brought over by the Europeans in the 16^th century by Jesuit priests who arrived with Spanish settlers. The United States is Colombia’s biggest trading partner, and this just goes to show how important this event was in history. Sadly, slavery was established in the region for work purposes and this set up a social system that would last for centuries to come. With these two factors alone, this was enough for Colombia to become an established society and a contributor on a global scale. Without the imports of these different plants and people to the Americas, the world today would be completely different culturally speaking. 

Citations:

“Columbian Exchange.” Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, doi:10.1163/2352-0272_emho_com_018110.

“Columbian Exchange.” Encyclopedia of Environmental Change, doi:10.4135/9781446247501.n757.

Martínez-Fernández, Luis. “First Encounters, Inventing America, and the Columbian Exchange.” Key to the New World, 2018, doi:10.5744/florida/9781683400325.003.0004.

God, Glory, and Gold

When the Spanish began to colonize the regions of South America, particularly Colombia, it began to become a part of the empire of Spain. In 1525, a Spanish conquistador by the name of Rodrigo de Bastidas founded the settlement of Santa Marta. This would become the first formal settlement in Colombia, and also the oldest city in Colombia. Santa Marta is located in the Northern coast of Colombia. From the beginning, this was set up to become a profitable city. It was a port city and there was plenty of land for farming and vegetation to grow. 

The relationship between the colonizers and the colonized is one that is not talked about in history as much as it needs to be brought to our attention. We are quick to celebrate the hateful and violent actions that the colonizers did to the indigenous peoples there and the pain that they suffered through Spanish profit. The most notable conquistador that is known for partaking in this is Christopher Columbus. But there was many, many more that partook in the slaughtering of these people. Bastidas and his men also set out to kill all of the indigenous peoples. The indigenous people were really no match for the Spanish, who were the most powerful country in the world at that time, both in riches and also militarily speaking. At first the Spanish brought goods and would trade with the locals, but that quickly turned because the Spanish were simply more dominant. Many men were killed, the women were raped, and children were enslaved. The Spanish mindset when coming to the “New World” is referred to now as “The Three G’s”, which are glory, gold, and God. 

The Spanish carried out their colonization of the Americas by thinking and justifying that it was for all the right reasons. These reasons were justified by the Spanish for God, glory, and gold. Spain was a country who was a country who heavily practiced Catholicism. Spain was extremely powerful at this point in history, so they believed that they were the model and that it was their duty to spread their beliefs and culture to this new land. In their minds, what they were doing in the Americas was for all the right reasons. They colonized lands in the name of their Mother country, Spain. Gold was the number one priority in settling in the Americas. It was believed to have been plentiful, with some even believing there were entire cities made of gold. If economic gains could be made in this new region, the Spanish were going to use any means necessary to gain that profit, whether that be by enslaving people, slaughtering them, etc. If a Spaniard could imprint his legacy in the New World and for the king and queen of Spain, he was going to do so. 

I believe that piety and profit do not go hand in hand, as piety means that good practices are being carried out for religious benefits. The Spanish colonization of Colombia was only carried out for profit to the empire. The Spanish actions contrasted with their religious aspect of settling and colonizing in the New World. 

Citations:

WILSON, D. de A. Killing for God and for Gold. Chronicle of Higher Education, [s. l.], v. 47, n. 34, p. B14, 2001.

Trask, Roger R. “Columbus: Admiral of the Ocean Sea Columbus: Man and Myth Columbus: The First Voyage Columbus: The Search for La Navidad Columbus: The New World Columbus: God and Gold Columbus: The Later Voyages Columbus: First Landfall Debate Omni graphics, Inc.” The Public Historian, vol. 14, no. 4, 1992, pp. 135–138., doi:10.2307/3377870.