BELLRINGER: 10/9
 Get out your Age of Exploration/Discovery Vocab
and study for your vocab quiz.
AGENDA: 10/9
 **SHORT CLASS TODAY**
 1. Vocabulary Quiz
 2. Notes: Columbian Exchange
 3. Study Guide: Age of Exploration
 HOMEWORK: Complete study guide; review for
mini-test on Age of Exploration on 10/16
 Next class for Block 1
Ms. Allen
WHII
2015-16
KEY QUESTION: What is the
Columbian Exchange and how
did it change the world?
The Columbian Exchange
• Voyages launched large-scale contact between Europe and Americas.
• Interaction with Native Americans led to sweeping cultural changes.
• Contact between the two groups led to the widespread exchange of plants,
animals, and disease—the Columbian Exchange.
The Exchange of Goods
Sharing Discoveries
• Plants, animals developed in very
different ways in hemispheres
• Arrival of Europeans in Americas
changed all this
• Europeans—no potatoes, corn,
sweet potatoes, turkeys
• Previously unknown foods taken back
to Europe
• People in Americas—no coffee,
oranges, rice, wheat, sheep, cattle
• Familiar foods brought to Americas by
colonists
The introduction of the horse provided people in the Americas with a new
source of labor and transportation.
Impact on Native Americans
 Europeans were learning of the profitability of the
plantation system – relying on what?
 Economic benefit of using local forced labor
 Disease – Europeans, unknowingly brought measles,
mumps, chickenpox, smallpox, typhus and others
 The local people had no built-up natural immunity to these
diseases yet
Impact on Africans
 With decline of native work force, labor was needed from
elsewhere.
 Slave trade exploded, especially in W. Africa
 Over the next 300 years (1500-1800) approx. 10 million
people were taken
Impact on Europeans
 Europeans began to cross the Atlantic creating one of the
largest voluntary migrations in world history.
 Overseas expansion inflamed national rivalries in Europe
causing conflict.
 Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 (Spain Vs. Portugal)
 Growth of trade markets completely changed the world
FOREVER!
The Exchange was
positive and negative in
its effects:
Positive Effects:
Different Foods
• Over time crops native to Americas became staples in diets of Europeans
• Foods provided substantial nutrition, helped people live longer
• Scholars estimate one-third of all food crops grown in world are of American origin
Economics and Gastronomics
• Activities like Texas cattle ranching, Brazilian coffee growing not
possible without Columbian Exchange; cows, coffee native to Old
World
• Traditional cuisines changed because of Columbian Exchange
Italian Food Without Tomatoes?
• Until contact with Americas, Europeans had never tried tomatoes
• Most Europeans thought tomatoes poisonous
• By late 1600s, tomatoes had begun to be included in Italian
cookbooks
Negative Effects:
 In the exchange that started along the coast of
Newfoundland and was made widespread by Columbus,
disease was the most negative for the Native American
population
 Fatality rate over a period of two to three generations was
95% for many tribal groups
 In some cases, as in the Mohegans case, the fatality rate
could be 100 percent
The Introduction of New Diseases
• Native Americans had no natural resistance to European diseases
• Smallpox, measles, influenza, malaria killed millions
• Population of central Mexico may have decreased by more than 30
percent in the 10 years following first contact with Europeans
Devastating Impact
• Native American population continued to decline for centuries
• Inca Empire decreased from 13 million in 1492 to 2 million in
1600
• North American population fell from 2 million in 1492 to
500,000 in 1900—but disease not only factor in decrease of
population
• Intermittent warfare, other violence also contributed
Old World Diseases
 European disease was particularly virulent
 Smallpox, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough,
chicken pox, bubonic plague, scarlet fever and
influenza were the most common diseases
 Nearly all of the European diseases were
communicable by air and touch.
 The pathway of these diseases was invisible to both
Indians and Europeans
Europeans believed that it was
God’s will that Indians died
 No germ theory at the time of contact.
 Illness in Europe was considered to be the
consequence of sin
 Indians, who were largely “heathen” or non-Christian
were regarded as sinners thus subject to illness as a
punishment
Mercantilism
New Economic Policy
Intense Competition
• Founding of colonies, new
goods in Europe led to
significant changes
• Wealth measured by amount
of gold, silver possessed by
nation
• 1500s, Europeans developed
new economic policy,
mercantilism
• Mercantilists believed there
was fixed amount of wealth in
world
• Nation’s strength depended on
its wealth
• For one nation to become
wealthier, more powerful—had
to take wealth, power away
from another nation
• Wealthy nation had power for
military and expanded
influence
• Mercantilism led to intense
competition between nations
Balance of Trade
• Mercantilists built wealth two ways—
•1) extract gold, silver from mines at home, in colonies;
•2) sell more goods than it bought from foreign countries, creating favorable
balance of trade
• With favorable balance of trade, country received more gold, silver from
other nations than it paid to them
• Increased its power; weakened foreign competitors
Imports
• To achieve favorable balance of
trade, could reduce amount of
imports by placing tariffs on
goods
Exports
• Encourage exports that could sell
for higher prices than raw
materials
• Importer paid tariff, added cost to
price of good
• Countries encouraged
manufacturing and export of
manufactured goods
• Imported goods more expensive,
discouraged people from buying
• Governments provided subsidies
to help start new industries
Colonies
Building colonial empires essential to mercantilist system
Colonies
• European powers wanted to
establish colonies
Strict Laws
• Monarchs restricted economic
activities in colonies
– To control sources of raw
materials
• Colonists could not sell raw
materials to other countries
– To provide new markets for
manufactured goods
• Could not buy manufactured
goods from other nations
• To mercantilist, colonies existed
only to benefit home country
• Strict laws forbade colonies from
manufacturing goods
• Forced to buy only from home
country
Commercial Revolution
 What: The transition (change) from Mercantilism
& then to Capitalism IS the
COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
 When: 16th -17th centuries
 Who/Where: Europeans & European
countries & colonies
 Why?: changes in commerce (trade) & money making
methods
Changes in the power structure btwn countries
 Why Care?:Influenced today’s financial dealings (the
way we do business)
Commercial Revolution
 The shift from mercantilism to capitalism is called the
Commercial Revolution.
 CAUSE:
 Happens because of changes in commerce (trade)
and money-making practices
 EFFECTS:
 set the stage for the development of CAPITALISM
 Basis of today’s financial practices
The Rise of Capitalism
Increasing trade between Europe and colonies created new business and
trade practices during the 1500s and 1600s. These practices would have a
great impact on the economies of European nations.
Capitalism Emerges
Overseas TRADE
Increased
BUSINESS ACTIVITY
• In capitalism, most
economic activity
carried on by private
individuals,
organizations in order
to seek profit
• During this time,
capitalism expanded
• Individuals amassed
great trade fortunes
• Merchants supplied
colonists with
European goods
• Returned products,
raw materials
• Overseas trade made
many merchants rich
• Wealth enabled them
to invest in more
business ventures
• Business activity in
Europe increased
greatly
Rising Prices (INFLATION)
• Investors took risks of investing in overseas trade because of inflation
• Inflation: steady increase in prices
• Demand for goods increased due to growing population, scarcity of
goods; rising demand drove prices higher
Money Supply
• Increase of money supply another factor in higher prices (INFLATION)
• Shiploads of gold, silver flowed into Europe from Americas to be made
into new coins
• Over time, increase of money in circulation pushed prices for goods
still higher
A New Business Organization
New Ventures
• Overseas business ventures often
too expensive for individual
investors
• Investors began pooling money in
joint-stock companies
Shares
Joint-Stock Companies
• Investors bought shares of stock
in company
• If company made profit, each
shareholder received portion
Financing Colonies
• Profit, loss based on number of
shares owned
• British East India Company, one of
first joint-stock companies
• If company failed, investors lost
only amount invested
• 1600, imported spices from Asia
• Others formed to bear cost of
establishing colonies
So… What is CAPITALISM?
 Economic System based on:
 private ownership &
 investment of wealth for profit
 Free Trade
 Cause: overseas colonization & trade = lots of merchants
getting RICH!
 And… they continued to invest in trade to get RICHER
(increase profits)
 AND then… they re-invested more to get even RICHER!