American and African Comparison Essay

Between 1492 and 1750, Africa and America experienced similarities in the introduction of new crops, movement on natives, and disease, while having differences in shift gender population, the amount of deaths, ethnicity change, and environment. Africa and America both experienced the introduction of new crops. In Africa, American crops such as maize were very useful in order to sustain the population. The cheap new source of food allowed Africa to sustain its population. America received new crops and animals such as rice and chickens. Both regions experienced an offset in the native population as a result of the Europeans. The demand for slavery in Africa resulted in a massive amount of natives being shipped to America. In America, the remainder of the Aztecs and Inca in Latin America were either moved or put under forced labor. In North America, smaller tribes such as the Iroquois and Algonquin were pushed off of their land by English and Dutch settlers. Both regions also experienced a widespread of disease. In Africa, diseases like Syphilis spread easily because most Africans were uneducated about sanitation. In America, native populations of the Aztecs and Inca were decimated by smallpox. The Aztecs, like the Africans, did not have the proper sanitary conditions, and new diseases meant that they were not immune to them. One major difference was the shift in the amount of men and women in each region. In Africa, most of the slaves taken were males. This meant that the majority of the African population became female. As a result of all of the slaves imported to the new world, the majority of America was male. Another difference was the amount of death among the natives. In America, a very large percentage of the native population died. In Africa, the shift in population was caused more by African slaves being taken out. While death was common along the Atlantic circuit, Africa was better equipped to sustain its native population. Foods brought from the New World enabled Africans to repopulate quickly whereas in America, the natives were replaced by the Europeans. Another major difference was the changes in the natural environment. In America, forests were cut down carelessly in order to create colonial towns. The resources were exploited to a vast degree to support European mercantilism. In Africa, change to the environment was milder. Most interaction occurred at the coast while central Africa was unexplored. African resources such as gold were traded, but were not in high demand until later on. Africa and America both were similar in the arrival of new crops, shift in population, and epidemics while being different in change of demographics, amount of death, new ethnicities, and the impact on the environment.