The Columbian Exchange Essay

A significant exchange known as the Columbian Exchange

A significant exchange known as the Columbian Exchange took place between the western and eastern regions, also known as the New and Old Worlds, respectively. Nearly all of the world’s cultures were impacted by The Exchange. It encouraged widespread migration of people, both voluntarily and forcibly. One of the most important historical occurrences was the Columbian Exchange, which directly led to the emergence of globalization and the subsequent promotion of cultural, agricultural, and social exchange. The main aim of this paper is to analyze two literary works on the Columbian Exchange, covering different areas of the readings including the extent to which the authors have covered the event, their knowledge and expertise on the subject, and whether the readings achieve the objectives of the authors.

The Columbian Exchange

The journal article “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas” by Nunn and Qian explores several aspects of the Columbian Exchange that most literature sources have not covered adequately. First, the article explores the effects of the exchange on the Old World, rather than the focusing on the impact on the New World. Second, the article discusses the biological Exchange of food crops and diseases between the two hemispheres. The focus is put on the two main points, which has both advantages and disadvantages. The narrowing of scope on the topic may not be very beneficial to the reader, especially one who does not have background information about the Columbian Exchange. However, the target audience of the authors seems to be the academic community, especially those specializing in economics or world history.

Although the article covers only two aspects of the Columbian Exchange

Although the article covers only two aspects of the Columbian Exchange, it provides valuable insight into the event that other scholars have in the past assumed. The article discusses in-depth an alternative perspective of the Columbian Exchange, which may provide a basis for further research or new knowledge on the topic. As such, it is highly beneficial to the economics community and other scholars who study the Columbian Exchange as part of their body of knowledge. However, a first-time reader will benefit from the background information provided in the introduction section of the article.

The second source is a book entitled “Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World: From 1000 CE to the Present”

The second source is a book entitled “Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World: From 1000 CE to the Present”. The reading is very informative due to the fact that it is one among others in a series. Furthermore, the book is long enough and covers the events that happened during the Columbian Exchange and the impact of the Exchange to modern civilizations. As such, the book is a highly reliable source for both experts and novices in the subject. The book is also an important source of information given the large number of contributors involved who provide accurate and reliable information that can be easily understood by the reader. However, unlike the journal article, the book only provides an account of the events and the opinions of the authors, but does not discuss new perspectives on the topic.

Conclusion

In summary, both sources can be used as reliable sources of information on the Columbian Exchange. The readings are targeted at different audiences and both achieve their objectives of informing the reader on the specified aspects of the Columbian Exchange.

Bibliography

Nunn, Nathan, and Nancy Qian. “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 24, no. 2 (2010): 163-188.

Tignor, Robert, Jeremy Adelman, Stephen Aron, Stephen Kotkin, Suzanne Marchand, Gyan Prakash, and Michael Tsin. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World: From 1000 CE to the Present Volume Two. New York: WW Norton, 2013.