<span> "Colombian Exchange." This is the exchange of the crops, animals and resources that went between the New and Old World.
From the Americas came peppers, maize, potatoes, tomatoes, snap beans,
lima, beans, and squash. Maize and potatoes became staple crops
throughout Europe. So much so that the Irish potato crop failed, the
result was famine.
From Europe, to the Americas came wheat, rye, barley, oats and millet.
The first two crops are used in bread, a mainstay today.
The horse was a European import. When adopted by the Native Americans, the result was the Great Plains cultures.
The Americans produced vast amounts of gold and silver. However the
material was obtained, the amount imported to Europe made economies
based on money possible. This allowed more trade.
Having somewhere to go and new opportunities invigorated Europe. People
could now seek their fortune or get a fresh start. Having a destination
also increased technological development of deep ocean ships.
There is a dark side to the exchange. When Europeans first came to the
Americas they inadvertently introduced a number of diseases. These
included forms of Tuberculosis, measles, cholera, typhus, and smallpox.
Oh all the exchanges between the Native Americans and the Europeans,
disease had the most impact.
Native Americans had little immunity to any of these imported diseases.
The migration route into the Americas had been through arctic regions.
The cold acted as a "filter" preventing some diseases from entering.
During their thousands of years of isolation, the inhabitants of the
Americas had avoided the disease that swept through the rest of the
world. However, this also meant that they had no immunity, protection
from these same illnesses. </span>
Native Americans had signed away the rights to much of their land in treaties with the federal government, they likely never imagined that a disruptive and massive system like the railroad would be constructed through their traditional hunting grounds.
They didn't because they weren't focused on it. It was the age of technological advancement, industry, wild parties and rich city slickers. The so called roaring twenties. Everyone was focused on factories and development that they didn't pay attention to the farmers.
