By:Kate LeVanis


Horses in the Columbian Exchange

    Horses were one of the first things to be traded in the Columbian exchange. 

Where did the horses come from?
    Horses were brought from Europe to the Americas. They were a very important trade item.

What was the impact horses had on the Americas?
    Horses allowed Native Americans to travel to find food and other supplies. Horses also helped strengthen military power.  Horses were not the only animals making a large impact on the Americas. However, horses did make working more efficient. They would make farming easier because the Americas still did not invent the wheel. What they would do was, they would get farming tools strapped around them. For example they would pull a plow. This made it possible to plant more crops and harvest them.

    Not only were horses used for farm work but, they were also used for transportation. They had a huge impact and importance during the Columbian Exchange. During this time period travel and transportation was very hard a difficult because there were no cars, trucks, motorcycles, and basically everything else we use now for transportation. The reason why these creatures were so important is because they gave us a way to do what we could not before and that was travel or transport things easily. They were used in horse and buggies, we don't really use them anymore but they are very interesting. In some places even today you can not only see but ride in one of these buggies. It's a lot of fun!

    Horses were a large reason why the Columbian Exchange was so important and still is.