Columbus

The year of 1492 dramatically changed the conception of the world. It brought the people of two semi-isolated hemispheres into confrontation over land and religion. Not only did it bring the Old and New World together, it also initiated a set of changes that would have vast implications for the future. It contributed to the rise of slave trade and a movement of animals, food, plants, and diseases that transformed the world.

Columbus believed that earth's circumference only to be 18,000 miles. So he believed that the journey to Japan would only take 4,000 miles. As he reached his destination in October of 1492 it was an island in the West Indies he named San Salvador. It was not Japan as he originally thought. When he ported his ships he discovered that the people were "coppered colored", (he later turned to calling them Native Indians) they could not speak his language nor could they speak Arabic (which was commonly understood in Asia).

When Columbus landed on San Salvador he planted a cross on the land as a sign of respect and to show the King and Queen this was "now their land." By finding the New World, Columbus started its European colonization.

In later years the Spanish would refer back to Columbus as saying that the "Native Indians" to be very generous and willing to show open arms. But, they lack the skills in arms, so they could be easily taken over by Spaniards.

People of Spain began to immigrate over to the New World in hopes to permanently settle there. Columbus brought the expansion on trade with the Native Indians. History was primarily changed by the exchange of goods, diseases, plants and animals between Europe and the Americas, commonly known as the Columbian Exchange.

Columbus spread culture and goods throughout Europe. Europeans and others brought crops to America that provided tradable material, such as cotton, sugar, and etc. They planted lots of these crops and sold or traded the goods they gave off.

The New World, which is not just Europe, but the entire Eastern Hemisphere, gained from the Columbian Exchange through crops and animals. Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Corn (Maize) previously unknown in Europe became an important part of the diet of people living there.

Through the Columbian Exchange to the