The Columbian exchange was the extensive exchange of plants, animals, ideas, diseases, and technology between the Old World of western Europe and the New World of the Americas. Through this exchange of cultures and resources, both societies became introduced to new substances and concepts that would shape each population for years to come. However, not everything that was introduced proved to be beneficial, and this includes the horrific diseases which were introduced to the Native Americans through the Europeans. The Native Americans of the New World lacked the necessary antibodies to fight off the foreign diseases of the European explorers, and as a result, numerous Native American communities were decimated. The most potent of these diseases
