Student Question
What impact did Europeans have on North and South America?
Quick answer:
Europeans significantly impacted North and South America through colonization, which led to economic development, urbanization, and the spread of Christianity. However, they also brought diseases that decimated indigenous populations and exploited resources and people for European benefit. European contact introduced new foods like tomatoes, potatoes, and maize to Europe, profoundly influencing diets. Culturally, interactions led Europeans to question their values, inspiring concepts like the "Noble Savage," which idealized Native American lifestyles.
Europeans had positive and negative effects on North and South America. The Europeans had established colonies throughout the Americas. As the Europeans developed their colonies, they were able to develop the economies of the region. Through trade with Europeans, new products were brought to the colonies. As the population grew, new cities developed. The Europeans were able to establish governments that allowed them to show the people they colonized how to run a country. They helped prepare these people for the day when they would become independent, even if that independence was often achieved by revolution. The Europeans also brought Christianity to the Americas. Missionaries worked to convert people to Christianity.
There were some negative effects of the European colonization of the Americas. The Europeans brought diseases to the Americas to which the local people had no immunities. Many people in the Americas died from these diseases. The Europeans also...
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enslaved some of the people with whom they came into contact. When the Europeans discovered rich deposits of minerals, they used these enslaved people to mine the minerals. The Europeans took these minerals back to their countries for their benefit, not for the benefit of the colonies. The entire purpose of establishing colonies was to benefit the Europeans. Thus, policies were developed with the needs of the Europeans in mind, not the needs of the people who were being colonized.
What effect did Native Americans have on Europeans?
In a practical sense, Native Americans influenced the European diet in profound ways. Native Americans cultivated foods that were unknown to the Europeans before first contact. Important foods introduced to Europe included tomatoes, potatoes, and maize (corn). These are now such staples that it is hard to imagine there was a time when Europeans did not eat them. Potatoes were so easy to grow and so nutritious that the Irish, for example, relied on them too heavily. When a potato blight came and potato crops were destroyed, many starved.
In a more philosophical sense, the cultural contact and cultural differences led Europeans thinkers to question their own values and way of life. The idea of the "Noble Savage" developed, which saw the Native Americans as superior to the Europeans because of their simpler way of life.