Maize in the Columbian Exchange During the period of 1450- 1750, there was an exchange of diseases, ideas, and food called the Columbian Exchange. Maize, a rich staple crop was introduced to the Old World countries in Africa, Europe and Asia during the Columbian Exchange. Maize was originally from the Western Hemisphere and it is thought to have first grown about 7000 years ago in Mexico. Corn contributed to both the old and new world economies by taking part in the slave trade. Corn also became an important part of the diets of the people of the regions it spread to.
Since Europeans were experiencing great economic gain, because they had the slaves and native peoples working for them, European countries with established colonies in the Americas began to become increasingly richer. This sparked a social change since an increase in finances led to an increase the power that kings and authority figures in Europe possessed. However, a negative social aspect that occurred due to Europeans immigrating to the Americas was that they brought diseases from their home countries that the native peoples weren’t exposed to before. This caused a devastating decrease in the population of the Native Americans throughout this time
Aware of the extra-money available to working families, the different pieces of a Big Business have acted in such a way to suck that extra-money from the poor families. Accordingly, railroads raised their prices on food suppliers; Standard Oil increased their fuel prices. In addition large grocery and department stores have added a greater price to their goods as well. As a result, the cost of living from 1870-1900 stayed approximately constant despite decreasing food and fuel prices. For the great majority of Americans, their standard of living remained the same, or even declined in response to the rise of tenement housing and an influx of immigrant workers.
Many aspects of the African and American economies remained unchanged by maintaining an agrarian based economy. As trade began to increase between Europe, the Americas, and Africa, many social transformations began to take place. The national monarchs that lived within Western Europe wanted to increase their power and began to look for more trade routes to increase their wealth. This rise in trading led to the growth of the middle class in Western Europe. The middle class developed because the increase of trading opened up room for specialized workers Along with the growth of the middle class bankers, capitalists, and other occupations also began to develop.
The needs of British manufacturers certainly did contribute to the expansion of the slave trade from 1760 – 1800 as they needed all sorts of materials for making what they did, However, there were other factors that contributed as well such as consumer demand, the profitability of the slave trade, the need for a labour force on the plantations and the development of the triangular trading system. Consumer demand was high during the slave trade from all types of industry for example; coal, metal, and ship building materials needed to make the ships that would trade and transport slaves were high on the demand list. It wasn’t just the industries demanding, it was the British public who now had a taste for the Caribbean goods such as sugar, rum, tobacco, coffee and cotton for clothes. The introduction of tobacco had high demand as people would become literally addicted to it. So this was also a key factor in the expansion of the slave trade.
Waterways were also a way for transportation, to cut out a lot of land, and cut out time. Waterways are a faster way for trade and barter. Steam boats were what pioneers used to travel down the waterways to trade and sell goods. Railroads were still used for closer travel, with items that did not need to get there as fast as possible, because railroad cars do not move very fast, although the steam engine improved the speed of transportation also. The United States did make rather large changes over 100 years, from 1776 to 1870.
These inventions (refer to Document C for examples) caused great economic expansion across Europe. Yet at the same time, these exact inventions caused for a need of more raw materials. This is where Imperialism began to take shape, because before Imperialism in Africa had begun, there were still many examples of Europeans who’d enslaved africans on their own land. Which meant that once raw materials for machines that needed simple labor in a factory rather than the fields were needed to maintain their great economic boost; whichever European country had the most property in Africa, got to conquer the most land in its entirety (Scramble for Africa). Meaning these now obsolete slaves were being subject to have to watch European countries take over their lands and began industrializing on african soil because of how rich in materials the African land is.
Between 1500-1800 C.E. Sub-Saharan Africa experienced changes and continuity as they began to go further with their foreign relations. Culturally, Africa began to form syncretic cults that had Christian teachings and African traditions. Slavery continued to be one of Africa's main way of showing economic wealth. Africa experienced growth and change in their political organization and the rise and fall of kingdoms and states Before the syncretic cults, Africa's old traditions and beliefs surrounded deities, idols, and multiple gods.
European Imperialism in Africa and Asia European nations followed to establish trade contacts in Africa and Asia. Their influence in the non-Western world increased gradually in the next three centuries. Beginning in 1870, European nations moved rapidly to extend their control over almost all of Africa and in most of Asia. The industrialized nations competed with each other for natural resources and raw materials such as copper, rubber, petroleum, and cotton after the Industrial Revolution spread within Europe. The industrial middle class, who had gained greater influence in the governments in Europe, encouraged imperialist ventures to seize control in Africa and Asia.
During the late 1800’s Britain was taking notice in three major interests in Africa that they wanted to take over for their own colonization and also for trade routes and for scrambles they could use during wars against the other countries. After the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 that Britain began to take notice of different point of the continent especially Egypt. After the Canal was built the British found out that the Canal was a faster route to India, which could increase trade and increase the countries economy. The only problem was that the Canal was built by the French and at this time the French and the British weren’t so friendly with each other. While stocks were selling the British the Canal quietly bought a majority of