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The Columbian Exchange. Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Americas led to several changes to the lives of inhabitants of the continents. The contact between the Mesoamerica and Europe facilitated the deliberate exchange of goods and cultures between the two civilizations. Crops, skills, animals, and diseases were some of the exchanges that took place between the Old World and the New World (Nunn and Qian 163). However, some of the consequences of the contact were unintended. This can be seen in the various events that were triggered by this contact which did not reflect the initial intentions of the Europeans in the Americas. Farming of sugar in the Americas led to the unintended consequence of the institution of slavery. The increased demand for sugar from affluent Europeans resulted in more production of sugar in the Caribbean to supply merchants with the commodity who later transported it to European markets for consumption (Nunn and Qian 163-165). As more farms were created for the production of sugar, the demand for labor also increased. As a result, millions of Africans were captured and sold to European merchants who later shipped them to the Americans. The slaves provided cheap labor in sugar plantations. The slave trade was an unintended consequence in the sense that the growth of wealth in Europe translated into an increased demand for sugar in households. The increase in demand created more business opportunities for European merchants .These merchants brought finished products to Africa and exchanged them for slaves who were shipped to the Americas to provide forced labor in sugar plantations in the Caribbean (Nunn and Qian 165-175). .A key aspect of
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