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Period 1: 1491 - 1607
APUSH Review: Key
Concept 1.2
(The Columbian Exchange)
Everything You Need To Know About Key
Concept 1.2 and The Columbian
Exchange To Succeed In APUSH
The New Curriculum and
The Columbian Exchange
• Key Concept 1.2 “European overseas expansion resulted
in the Columbian Exchange, a series of interactions and
adaptations among societies across the Atlantic.”
o Page 24 of the Curriculum framework
• The Columbian Exchange revolutionized life in the
Americas, Europe, and Africa.
• Key Concept 1.2, I: “The arrival of Europeans in the
Western Hemisphere in the 15th and 16th centuries
triggered extensive demographic and social changes on
both sides of the Atlantic.”
o Page 24 of the Curriculum framework
• Big Ideas:
o What were positives and negatives of the Columbian Exchange on both
hemispheres?
o What were reasons that led to European exploration?
The Columbian Exchange
• What was it?
o The exchange of plants, animals, culture, humans, diseases, etc.
between the Americas, Europe, and Africa
• Examples of goods:
o Americas to Europe and Africa: potatoes, maize (corn),
tomatoes
o Europe to the Americas: wheat, rice, horses, chickens, oxen
• Impact of exchange?
o In Europe and Asia: massive population growth due to new food
o In Africa: Spanish and Portuguese used Africans from West
Africa to be used as slaves in the Americas
o In the Americas: spread of diseases (smallpox), social classes
(Mestizos), horse transformed Native life (made hunting easier),
Encomienda system
Key Concept 1.2, II
• “European expansion into the Western Hemisphere
caused intense social/religious, political, and economic
competition in Europe and the promotion of empire
building.”
o Page 24 of the Curriculum framework
• What drove European exploration and conquest?
o 3 G’s – Gold, Glory, Gospel
o To spread Christianity – Spain
• Money and food from the Americas led to population
growth in Europe and helped shift the economy to
capitalism
o Joint-stock companies – used to raise $ for explorations
• Used in Jamestown (1607)
• New technology aided exploration:
o Sextant – could be used to find exact position on earth – more precise sailing
Test Tips
• Multiple-Choice Questions and Short Answer:
o Be familiar with the impacts of the Columbian Exchange – not just food
• Increase in world trade, permanently connecting two hemispheres
o Identify specific goods and their impacts – horse and potato
o Impact on Africans – drastic growth in slavery
• Essay Questions:
o Not likely since it is from period 1
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