McCarthy 1

Sean McCarthy
Honors History 10
Miss Burke
11/3/16

The exploration and colonization of the Americas is one of the most well-known
moments in history. Whether you credit Columbus with this discovery, or Vespucci, or the
Vikings, this topic is one that most citizens of the world are familiar with. The exploration of the
Americas led to three things; the self-sufficiency of European Countries, the spread of new crops
as food sources around the world, and the world was put on the road towards slavery and
discrimination.
The European exploration of the Americas lead the European countries to be much more
self-sufficient. The Native Americans had always had weapons that they used to hunt such as
bows and arrows, but the introduction of guns by the Europeans allowed them to hunt much
bigger game much more easily. Fire arms were incredibly valuable to the natives, and so they
were one of the most sold items from the Europeans. This allowed the Europeans to trade
firearms, which were easily made for them, for things considered much more valuable such as
land and other resources, most of which were sent back the home countries, to trade with the rest
of the world. (Technology) The colonies that the countries claimed provided many new resources

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through the Columbian exchange, that the Europeans used to trade with and gain money and
power. A specific example would be Portugal, who brought Corn to Africa, and traded it for gold
and slaves gaining great wealth in the process. A very well-known crop that was grown in the
colonies is sugar. This crop thrived in the southern climate of the Americas, and led to huge
plantations being built. (A.D. 100) These plantations grew millions of dollars-worth of sugar,
and shipped it back to Europe, further increasing the wealth of the countries.
One of the key result from the exploration of the Americas was crops. Both the Americas
Europe, and even Africa gained many new crops each from the Columbian exchange. The
abundance of new crops discovered helped not only the old world to thrive, but also the New
World. Sugar, is present in almost every diet of every culture. The climate in Europe, is difficult
for growing sugar, and thus it became somewhat rare to the Europeans. When sugar was
introduced to the American Colonies, the settlers discovered that the climate in the lower
Americas was good for growing sugar. So huge plantations were built and dedicated to growing
sugar cane, to ship back to Europe. (A.D. 100) Another major example, is corn. This crop was
the most beneficial to Europe. Native Americans had farmed corn for centuries, because it could
be stored for hundreds of years without growing bad. When this crop was taken to Europe, it
replaced wheat in a lot of areas, because it was much easier to grow, and still provided a starch
and filler. (A.D. 100) The Portuguese brought Corn to Africa, and this became a staple crop in

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Africa. Probably the most well-known example is the potato. Ireland is famous for its potatoes,
but not many people know where they originated from. Potatoes were discovered in South
America, and were given to sailors as a cheap food source. (A.D. 100) Once they were brought
to Europe, it was discovered that potatoes could be farmed on the very thin soil that covered
most of Europe. (A.D. 100) Potatoes were brought to Europe from the Americas, and became a
huge cash crop in Ireland. The climate and ground was so good for growing potatoes that they
ended up becoming one of the largest exports from the country. This led to many more food
sources for the Native Americans as well as Europeans and Africans. (A.D. 100)
The exploration of the Americas however, did not only have beneficial effects. One of the
worst things that the world has experienced was slavery, which resulted from the discoveries of
the Americas. (McNeill) After the conquistadors forced Native Americans into slavery, and they
were almost completely wiped out by disease and overworking, the explorers looked to Africa
for a new source of slaves. The Africans were a good selection, because not only were they
disease resistant, and they also had been growing crops for centuries, so they could work on
plantations. (McNeill) Slaves were not just used for growing crops however, they also were used to
build dams and drainage ditches. On top of all of this, the slave trade brought even more diseases

such as yellow fever, and malaria which not only affected the Europeans, but even further
devastated the Native American Population. (McNeill)

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The explorations of the Americas is one of the most monumental moments in history. It
led many countries to self-sufficiency, as well as giving them many new crops to use as a food
source. The Americas benefited as well with crops, and also was explored and civilized by the
Europeans. However not all of the effects were beneficial, the exploration of the Americas led to
the discriminations against the Africans, and led to the Atlantic Slave Trade.

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Works Cited
By A.D. 100, almost all of. Plants. Gettysburg.edu,
public.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site19/plants.htm
McNeill, By J.R. 5.1 The Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange,
www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-twoworlds/1866.
Technology. Technology, public.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site19/technology.htm.