Mr. Tucker
8th Grade History
The Columbian Exchange
Guided Notes
Essential Understanding
The discovery of the Americas by Europeans resulted in an exchange of products
and resources between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Definition
The Columbian Exchange is defined as: the widespread exchange of crops,
animals, diseases, culture, and ideas between the Eastern (Old World) and Western
(New World) hemispheres.
*Old World = Europe, Africa, and Asia
*New World = North and South America
Items with the Most Significant Impact
1. Horses because they allowed for faster transportation (made conquest easier
for Europeans and provided the indigenous people of the Americas with a
more effective way to hunt buffalo).
2. Potatoes because they became a staple (basic element) of diets worldwide
and helped feed rapidly growing populations.
3. Corn for the same reason as potatoes.
4. Disease because scholars estimate that almost 95% of Native American
populations were wiped out from European diseases.
5. Sugar because it is used EVERYWHERE!
Impact of the Columbian Exchange between Europeans and Indigenous
Cultures
1. Sparked the migration of millions of people.
2. Diseases depopulated many cultures; however, contact between the two
hemispheres circulated a wide variety of new crops and livestock that, in
the long term, increased the world population.
3. The exchange transformed ways of life (e.g., new foods became staples of
human diets).
4. Europeans needed labor to farm land, which led to the encomienda system
and slavery.