FIRST CONTACTS 28000 BCE 1821 CE
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Equal, favoring both Europeans and Native Americans
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Unequal, favoring Europeans
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Unequal, favoring Native Americans
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Ambiguous; it’s not clear who benefited more
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Detailed explanation-1: -Unequal Exchange: Food for Disease So, when Europeans arrived, they generally found life in the Americas to be at least as healthy as back home. By contrast, Native Americans-never before exposed to vicious Old World pathogens like smallpox and thus, lacking any immunities to them-began dying at apocalyptic rates.
Detailed explanation-2: -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 ecosytems, bringing in new organisms like pigs, while completely eliminating others like beavers.
Detailed explanation-3: -Raw materials like precious metals (gold and silver), tobacco, sugar and cotton went from the Americas to Europe. Manufactured goods like cloth and metal items went to Africa and the Americas. Finally, slaves went from Africa to the Americas to work. This trade created great profits for Europe.
Detailed explanation-4: -The impact was most severe in the Caribbean, where by 1600 Native American populations on most islands had plummeted by more than 99 percent. Across the Americas, populations fell by 50 percent to 95 percent by 1650. The disease component of the Columbian Exchange was decidedly one-sided.