APUSH
September 15, 2014
1. Discuss Friday
2. Unit 1 Notes: The Columbian Exchange
3. Video: The Columbian Exchange
Unit : 1491 - 1607
European
Exploration of the
Americas and
The Columbian
Exchange
European Exploration of
the Americas
• Why were the European
monarchs and entrepreneurs
interested in exploring the
Americas?
• What drove European
exploration and conquest?
• 3 G’s:
• Gold
• Glory
• God
• Natural Resources and the
search for a sea route to the
East: India and China.
• Both = future profits, trade, and
economic growth.
• Christopher Columbus arrived in
Bahamas in 1492 and shortly
after discovered islands of
Hispaniola and Cuba.
The Columbian Exchange
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3.
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Columbian Exchange: The exchange of plants, animals,
culture, customs, ideologies, gold, humans, diseases,
technology, etc. between the Americas, Europe, and
Africa.
Impact of exchange?
In Europe and Asia: massive population growth due to new
food
In Africa: Spanish and Portuguese used Africans from West
Africa to be used as slaves in the Americas
In the Americas: spread of diseases (smallpox, typhus,
cholera, measles), social classes (Mestizos), and
Encomienda system.
3 Reasons:
Trade/Invasions more common in Europe
Dense cities in Europe
Large populations of domesticated animals lived with/near
Europeans.
Within one decade, nearly 50% of Native population wiped
out.
Many lost their tribal identity and converted to Christianity.
Europeans believed disease was a punishment to Natives
who defied Christianity.
Natives blames disease on witchcraft practiced by colonists.
Two biological ecosystems interchanged to create a new world ecology.