The Columbian Exchange led to a trade-off of diseases. The Europeans got syphilis, and the Indians got smallpox. Ther immune systems could not handle smallpox, and they perished in shockingly large numbers. The Columbian Exchange also benefitted the European economy very well. The European explorers took back home gold and silver, which increased their wealth, and crops like corn which were more hardy and could sustain Europe's population better than wheat. They also took home the potato, which surprisingly did not originate in Ireland, but rather the New World.