Bulliet et. al. – “The Columbian Exchange”, pp. 478-
480

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“The term Columbian Exchange refers to the transfer of peoples, animals, plants, and diseases between the New and Old Worlds. The European invasion and settlement of the Western Hemisphere opened a long era of biological and technological transfers that altered American environments.”
(Bulliet, p. 478)

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“Within a century of the first settlement, domesticated livestock and major agricultural crops of the Old World (the known world before
Columbus’ voyage) had spread over much of the
Americas, and the New World’s useful staple crops had enriched the agricultures of Europe, Asia, and
Africa.” (Bulliet, p. 478)

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“Old World diseases that entered the Americas with
European immigrants and African slaves devastated indigenous populations. These dramatic population changes weakened native peoples’ capacity for resistance and accelerated the transfer of plants, animals, and related technologies. As a result the colonies of Spain, Portugal, England and France became vast arenas of cultural and social experimentation.” (Bulliet, p. 478)

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Due to the long period of isolation from the Old World the inhabitants of the New World lacked immunity to Old World diseases
The death rate (although only able to be estimated) was extreme
– central Mexico’s population of 13 million people fell to roughly
700,000 – Mayan and Incan populations declined by 75% and
Brazil lost 50% of its’ native inhabitants
Mortality rates were often the highest when two epidemics struck at the same time (Influenza, Malaria, Yellow Fever)
Evidence is not decisive on the Europeans consciously using disease as a tool of empire, but the deadly result certainly played a significant role in the process as it limited the native population’s ability to resist settlement

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The Columbian Exchange dramatically altered the diet and lifestyles around the world
The Old World contributed crops such as rice, bananas, coconuts, breadfruit, and sugar to the traditional sources of
New World food staples
The New World offered maize, beans, squash, potatoes and manioc to the Old World diet
It is widely believed that greater availability of food crops in all parts of the world contributed to greater stability in food supply (more calories produced per acre) and resulted in worldwide population growth

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This was a crop native to the Americas and had long been used by the Amerindians for recreation and medicine
By the 17 th century it was experiencing high demand from the Europeans
King James I of England condemned the tobacco smoke as “dangerous to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs”
By 1614 there were over 7000 tobacco shops in and around London alone

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“The introduction of European livestock had a dramatic impact on New World environments and cultures. Faced with few natural predators, cattle, pigs, horses, and sheep, as well as pests like rats and rabbits, multiplied rapidly in the Americas.
On the vast plains of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, for example herds of wild cattle and horses exceeded 50 million by 1700.” (Bulliet, p. 480)
The herds of livestock roaming the land had a devastating impact on the agricultural land, as they grazed on the grasses that helped prevent the drying out and erosion of the land.

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Of all the livestock to arrive in the New World the horse had the biggest impact
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The horse increased the efficiency of hunters and the military capacity of warriors on the plains
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The horse, for example, allowed the Apache, Sioux,
Blackfoot, and Comanche, Assiniboine, and others to more efficiently hunt the vast herds of buffalo in
North America

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Lasted from about 1500 to
1866
About 12.5 million Africans taken from their societies
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About 10.7 million made it to the Americas
About 1.8 million (14.4%) died during the transatlantic crossing
Millions more died in the process of capture and transport to the African coast
 didn’t even make it to the ships

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Middle Passage
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Enslaved person’s journey from
Africa to the Americas
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Middle leg of the “Triangular
Trade” pattern
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Miserable journey
 Packed tightly together
 Chained together
 Many suffocated or died of disease (1 in 6)
 Some committed suicide or went on hunger strikes

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When slaves arrived in the Americas, they were sold at auctions
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Used as laborers, seen only as a unit for profit
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Viewed as valuable property/things, NOT people

Depiction of slaves in ancient Rome
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Idea of slavery = nothing new
Before 1500 = Mediterranean and
Indian Ocean regions were major areas of slave trading
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Major source of slaves = southern
Russia
Many African societies practiced slavery themselves, as well as selling slaves into these networks
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Trans-Saharan slave trade = brought
Africans to the Mediterranean
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East African slave trade = brought
Africans to the Middle East and Indian
Ocean area

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Slaves have always been considered “outsiders” of their masters’ societies, but slavery came in many forms  examples:
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Some slaves could be assimilated into their owners’ households or communities
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In some places, children of slaves were considered slaves; in other places they were considered free
Preference for female slaves in the
Islamic world
Jobs of slaves differed depending on the region
African slaves in the Islamic world

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Immense size of the traffic of slaves
Centrality of slave labor to the economies of colonial America
Slavery based on plantation agriculture only
Slaves treated as dehumanized property
Slave status = inherited; little hope of freedom
Racial dimension  Atlantic slavery came to be indentified with Africa and “blackness”

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Origins = lie in the
Mediterranean = where
Europeans first established sugar plantations
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After they learned about sugarcane and producing usable sugar from the Arabs
Also set up sugar plantations on islands off the coast of West
Africa
Sugar plantation work = difficult and dangerous
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Slavery became the source of labor because nobody would work under these conditions for the small wages being offered

Slave raiders in eastern Europe
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Original slaves on these
Mediterranean plantations =
Slavic-speaking people from the
Black Sea region
1453 = Ottoman Turks captured
Constantinople
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Result = Official end of Byzantine
Empire
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Result = Ottomans now controlled
Black Sea region
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Result = Ottomans cut off Christian
Europe from its major source of slaves

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At the same time = the
Portuguese were starting to explore the coast of
West Africa
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Were looking for gold  but found an alternative source of slaves there
Result = when sugarplantations started in the
Americas, Europeans already had ties to a
West African source of labor supply

Inspection and sale of an African slave
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Africa = primary source of slave labor for the colonies through a process of elimination
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Slavic-peoples = no longer available
Native Americans = quickly died off from European diseases
Europeans = Christians = exempt from slavery
European indentured servants = expensive and temporary

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To the Europeans, Africans were perfect for plantation labor because:
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Skilled farmers
Some immunity to tropical and
European diseases
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Not Christian
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Relatively close and easy to get
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Available in large numbers
Had darker skin  allowed the Europeans to view them as an “inferior” race
“Testing an African Slave for Sickness”

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Slave raiding in Africa = unnecessary and unwise
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African societies = capable of defending themselves against European intrusion
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African societies = willing to sell their slaves peacefully
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Europeans = dropped like flies when entering Africa’s interior because not immune to tropical diseases

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Step 1: African merchants and political elites captured slaves and brought them to the coast of West Africa
Step 2: Europeans waited on the coast (in ships or fortified settlements) to purchase these slaves
Step 3: Europeans brought slaves to the Americas and sold them at slave auctions to plantation owners

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In exchange for slaves,
African sellers wanted:
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European and Indian textiles
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Cowrie shells (used as money in West Africa)
European metal goods
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Firearms and gunpowder
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Tobacco and alcohol
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Decorative items, such as beads

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African slave trade = hurt smaller societies within
Africa
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Raided by larger, more powerful neighbors to conquer their people to sell as slaves
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Lacked the protection of a strong state

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Slave trade drew mainly on the societies of West Africa
Progressively moved into the interior of Africa as the demand for slaves picked up
Slaves = drawn from marginal groups in African societies = prisoners of war, criminals, debtors, people who had been
“pawned” during times of difficulty, etc.
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Those captured and sold =
“outsiders”
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So Africans didn’t believe they were “selling their own people”

Number of Slaves Traded During the Slave Trade
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Slowed Africa’s population growth
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Simultaneously = populations of Europe,
China, etc. were expanding
Causes:
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Loss of millions of people over 4 centuries
Economic stagnation caused by the slave trade
Political disruption caused by the slave trade

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Slave trade = did not help
Africa economically because: African merchants and elites who sold the slaves kept the money for themselves and did not invest in their African societies
No technological breakthroughs in agriculture or industry to help increase the wealth of African societies
Proclamation of the New King of
Dahomey in Africa
The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.