AP World History
POD 15 – Europe Encounters America
Columbian Exchange
Class Discussion Notes
Bulliet et. al. – “The Columbian
Exchange”, pp. 478-480
Definition
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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)
Columbian Exchange Diagram
Positive Impact
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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)
Negative Impact
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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)
Smallpox
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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
Plants & Food Stuffs
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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
Tobacco
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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 17th 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
Livestock
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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.
Horses
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Of all the livestock to arrive in the New World
the horse had the biggest impact
The horse increased the efficiency of hunters
and the military capacity of warriors on the
plains
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