A Changing World

The sixteenth century was a time of exploration and expansion. Sparked by the Renaissance, the people of Europe began to question and investigate. The peoples’ curiosity and desire for finer goods from Asia led them to take to the high seas in search of an easier path to the Orient. One of these courageous sailors was Christopher Columbus under the country of Spain. In his efforts to find Asia, Columbus accidentally stumbled across a new world. This new world contained other cultures and people very different from the Europeans. As a result of Columbus’s discovery of the New World the very unique and ancient culture of the Native Americans was extinguished. It was a bad thing that the Europeans prevailed over these ancient tribes of the Americas.

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Disease spread rapidly over the entire continent and killed more Native Americans than the Conquistadors did directly. The impact on the Indians was not a change for the good, but rather their demise.

The invasion of the Europeans into the New World devastated the native cultures of the original Americans. Many of the elders of the tribes were killed and with them died the sacred spirit of their ancient way of life. This unimaginable amount of death ruined the ancient cultures of the Indians and brought change. The Old World brought only gifts of distress and despair. The unique cultures of the Americas were extinguished and allowed the rapid colonization of the New World. The food products from the New World were very important to the people in Europe. Many of the Indians that were killed never saw the Europeans. This food also strengthened the European economy allowing many traders to make high profits. Yet the Old World culture was the only one to profit. Another important gift from the Americas was gold. “This flood of precious metal touched off a price revolution that increased consumer costs by 500 percent…” (Kennedy 17). The encounter with the native cultures of the Americas brought prosperity, wealth, and land to the Europeans. This huge income of bullion helped traders to use a standard for currency and stimulated the economy.

Approximate Word count = 514
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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