The Columbian Exchange


Causes of European migration: After 1492, the motivations for European migration to the Americas centered around the three G’s: God, gold, and glory. Gold refers to the desire to extract natural resources like gold and sugar from the New World. European colonizers also had a desire to spread Christianity to the New World. Glory refers to the desire for European colonizers to increase their nation’s status as a world power and gain military strength through colonization.

Technological innovation: European colonization of the Americas was made substantially easier through several technological innovations like compasses, caravels, and astrolabes. It affected economic development by making it possible for large scale trade networks between the Old World and the New World to develop.

Cultural exchanges and trade networks: Initial contact between Native Americans and European colonizers began a process of cultural and biological exchanges between the Old World and the New known as the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange caused population growth in Europe by bringing new crops from the Americas and started Europe’s economic shift towards capitalism. Colonization disrupted ecosystems, bringing in new organisms like pigs, while completely eliminating others like beavers.

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