Katie+Homra

**__ Was the Columbian Exchange a Good thing or a Bad thing? __** What if we didn’t have the animals, plants, and technology that we have today? Life would be so much different. If the Columbian Exchange never happened we wouldn’t have the variety of things that we have today. Holidays and eating out would not be the same without these things. Imagine never having pumpkins for Halloween, or going out to eat and looking at the menu just to discover the only animal product is turkey. When agriculture took over they discovered a new species; fish. Fish is used in a variety of ways but the most common use of them is for human consumption. The variety of fruits, vegetables, and spices would be slimed down a lot if the exchange never happened. Fruit salads would pretty boring without all of the old world fruits. We never notice how the spices in food are really what make our meals taste good. If we were to take out all the spices in food, it would be very bland and not as enjoyable. So thank Columbus for the variety of spices offered to make meals tastier. Unfortunately they also brought disease over with them. Natives did not have immunities to these fatal diseases and it would often kill them. Over the years they built up the immunity to fight it off. These European diseases are still around but we now have a better chance of fighting it off and avoiding it, thanks partly to the use of technology. Without it we might now have found the cures and medicines we now use. Though the Columbian Exchange brought a few negatives to America, it has shown to bring us more benefits then anything.