Columbian Exchange
AP World History
Unit 3
1450-1750
What is the Columbian Exchange?
The term was created by Al Crosby.
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
Defined as:
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A historian at the University of Texas.
“the contact between any two people geographically
separated from one another results in an ‘exchange’
of physical elements.”
The 3 main elements are:
1. Animals
2. Plants
3. Microbes
Animals
► The
only domesticated animal in Latin America
before Europeans arrived, was the Llama.
 Turkeys were the only domesticated animal in North
America.
► Europeans
brought:
 Cattle, chickens, donkeys, goats, horses, pigs, rabbits,
and sheep.
► Not
all animals that Europeans brought came
directly from Europe.
 Some animals came from Africa and Asia, with the
Europeans
Animals
► New
animals completely changed the use of land.
► Significant environmental impact.
► European livestock multiplied quickly.
 Destroyed land with their hooves.
► Introduction
of cattle and horses provided new
forms of transportation and mobility in warfare.
 Also provided hides and meat.
Animals
► Animal
fertilizer became an important part
of agricultural system.
► European horses, cattle, and pigs also
affected American lives.
 Beaver and other fur-bearing animals
significantly influenced the exchange between
the Americans and Europeans.
Plants
► Europeans
brought cash crops to the Americas
and took new cash crops back.
► To Europe:
 Avocados, beans, cashews, chili peppers, cacao, corn,
cotton, papayas, peanuts, pecans, pineapples, potatoes,
rubber, squash, strawberries, sweat potatoes, tobacco,
tomato, and vanilla.
► To
the Americas:
 Bananas, black pepper, citrus fruits, coffee, grapes,
garlic, oats, onions, lettuce, peaches, pears, sugar, rice,
rye, and wheat.
Plants
► Like
the animals, some came from Africa and Asia.
► New crops flourished in the Americas.
► Many indigenous plants were crowded out by new
crops and weeds.
► Old world crops were stronger.
 Had a more competitive original environment.
► Economy
shifts to large scale agricultural
production.
 Very labor intensive.
► Europeans
adopted crops from the Americas.
Plants
► Foods
such as bananas and wheat that
diversified American diets.
 Other crops like sugar cane were intended for
cultivation through exploited labor.
► American
crops such as maize and potatoes
had a big impact on European agriculture.
Old World
Microbes
► European
diseases were particularly harsh.
► The most common diseases exchanged were:
 Smallpox, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, chicken
pox, bubonic plague, scarlet fever, and influenza.
► Nearly
all of the European diseases were
communicable by air and touch.
► The pathway for these diseases was invisible to
both Native Americans and Europeans.
European Beliefs regarding Disease
► At
the time when Europeans arrived in the
Americas, they had no theories about
germs.
► Illness in Europe was considered to be the
consequence for sinning.
► Native Americans were seen as “heathen” or
non-Christian.
 Therefore, they were regarded as sinners and
subjected to illness as a punishment.
Rapid Spread of Disease
► In
most cases, Native Americans became
sick even before they had direct contact
with Europeans.
► Trade goods traveling from tribe to tribe
through middlemen were often the vehicle
for the spread of disease.
► There is no creditable evidence that
Europeans intentionally infected trade items
in order to infect Native Americans.
Smallpox
► Deadliest
disease that the Europeans
brought to the Americas.
► Central Mexico’s population decreased from:
 25 million in 1510 to less than 1 million in 1605.
► Hispaniola’s
population decreased from:
 1 million in 1492 to 46,000 in 1512.
► North
America’s population decreased.
 90% of Native Americans were gone within 100
years of the landing on Plymouth Rock.
Why were Europeans Immune?
► Has
everything to do with their original environment.
► Most pathogens originate with animals or insects.
► Domesticated animals and plants were more
numerous in Europe.
► Greater diversity meant more ecological protection.
► However, Europeans did bring home some American
diseases such as syphilis.
Demographic Shift
► Native
American population decreases.
 Diseases were a major factor.
►This
assisted European conquest and accelerated
cultural change.
► Europeans
need labor.
 Import African slaves.
► Mixing
of all three populations
occurred in varying degrees.
Demographic Shift
► Europeans
moved to the Americas to
oversee economic production.
► Focused economic efforts on mineral wealth
or producing cash crops.
 American economic system was changes to met
the needs of Europeans.
► Traditional
forms of hunting/gathering and
agriculture were disrupted.
 Native Americans became dependant on
European manufactured goods.
Demographic Shift
► European
settlements introduced Christian
institutions and new forms of government.
 Disrupted traditional Native American cultural
and political processes, suppressed them, or
destroyed them.
Columbian Exchange
Class Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why, and in what ways, was the Columbian
Exchange a particularly significant case of global
contact?
Was western Europe the chief beneficiary of the
exchange? Explain why or why not.
What balance was there between the economic
dependency of the Americas and the ideas,
technology, and goods they received from Europe?
How is the Columbian Exchange seen as an
ecological frontier?
How did microbial exchanges shape human
history?