Latin America SS6H1 (B)
Explain the impact of the
Columbian Exchange on Latin
America & Europe in terms of : the
decline of the indigenous people,
agricultural change, and the
introduction of the horse.
In Other Words….
• Explain how the exchange of goods,
animals, and diseases between
Europe and Latin America caused
the native population of Latin
America to decrease, changed how
and what they farmed & ate, and
changed how they traveled from
one place to another.
The Columbian Exchange
• The Columbian Exchange is the term
used to identify the exchange of
goods, animals, people, and diseases
between Europe and the Americas.
• It is called the Columbian Exchange
because it began after, and as a result
of, Columbus ‘discovering’ the
Americas
Columbian Exchange
• The ‘Old World’ usually means Europe,
but can sometimes also include Africa,
because these parts of the world were
already known to Europe and its
explorers ~ it was ‘old’ news
• The ‘New World’ means the Americas
(both North & South America), because
these lands were ‘new’ to Europe and
their explorers who ‘discovered’ these
new lands
Europe, Africa, Western Asia
(Everything in the Eastern Hemisphere except for Australia)
The ‘Old World’
The ‘New World’
The Exchange of Plants
• One important part of the Columbian
Exchange was the exchange of food
plants
– Cocoa, corn, potatoes, peppers, &
tomatoes grew in Central & South
America & were shipped back to
Europe
– Coffee, peaches, sugar, & wheat grew
in Europe and were shipped to the
Americas
Crops Grown in the Americas
~ Shipped back to Europe:
Crops Grown in Europe ~
Brought to the Americas by
Europeans
New Food = New Diet
• Having these new crops meant that what
people ate, both in Europe & in the
Americas, changed drastically
• Not only did this mean a larger variety of
foods to choose from but also meant a
more complete and nutritious diet insuring
that people were more likely to get all of
the vitamins, minerals etc. their bodies
need to grow & be healthy
A More Complete, Balanced Diet
European Diseases
• While many things Europeans brought with
them to the Americas were useful to the
natives, often helping to make their lives
better & easier, Europeans also
unknowingly brought something else that
would devastate the native population
throughout the Americas … Diseases
• The Europeans brought with them many
diseases that the native people had
never seen or been exposed to before.
• Their bodies did not have immunities
(natural resistance) to these new
diseases and their healers did not know
how to treat them
• Some of the diseases Europeans brought
with them to the Americas were
influenza (flu), measles, small pox, and
typhoid fever.
• Between 50% and 75% of the indigenous
(native) population of some tribes in the
Americas lost their lives to these new
European diseases.
• Far more indigenous people died from
these diseases than in battle with
European explorers/conquerors
New Animals From Europe
• Europeans also introduced certain
animals to the New World.
• These included pigs, cows, goats, and
bees
The Horse…
• The horse was another animal Europeans
introduced to the indigenous people of
the New World
• Horses were by far the most important
animal the Europeans brought to the New
World
• Horses made it possible
for the natives to travel
faster and farther than
ever before
• They made trade and
travel easier, which made
it possible for the natives
to spread their culture
and knowledge farther,
reaching other native
tribes they had never
come into contact with
• This sharing of goods, culture, and
information made life better for all people
living in the Americas
Triangular Trade
• One of the most important results of The
Columbian Exchange (the exchange of
goods, people, and diseases between
the ‘Old World’ and the ‘New World’),
was a trade pattern called the Triangular
Trade
• The Triangular trade was named after the
shape that its trade routes, coming and
going from Europe, Africa, and the
Americas, made.
North
America
Europe
Africa
South
America
• The trade routes of the Triangular Trade
carried the goods and people that were
also a part of the Columbian Exchange
– But, the Columbian Exchange was the
trading of goods, people, and diseases
between Europe and the New World (it included
any exchange of anything between the ‘Old World’ and the
‘New World’)
– The Triangular Trade were the specific trade
routes of specific goods between specific
places
• In the Triangular Trade:
– Raw Materials (examples: cut trees and animal hides that
have not been processed into finished goods that can be sold)
are shipped from the Americas, where they are
grown and harvested, to Europe where they will
be processed and turned into finished goods,
like rocking chairs and winter coats.
North
America
Europe
Africa
South
America
• In the Triangular Trade:
– Manufactured Goods (examples: Rocking Chairs and
Winter Coats) are
made in Europe using the raw
materials shipped to them from the Americas.
They are shipped from Europe to Africa, where
they will either be sold or shipped to the
Americas to be sold.
North
America
Europe
Africa
South
America
• In the Triangular Trade:
– Slaves shipped from Africa to the Americas
where they were forced into slavery, working
to grow and harvest the raw materials that
were shipped to Europe
North
America
Europe
Africa
South
America
Summary Assessment Question:
• Imagine that you are a native living in
Central America when the Spanish
conquistadors arrive on the coasts of your
land. Describe the many new things they
bring with them (food, animals, diseases).
Explain how each of these groups of new
things have changed your life. Do you
feel that your life is better or worse after
the Europeans arrived. Explain why you
feel this way.
• This is a short answer response. This means that
your answer should be paragraph length, not one
word answers.
• Specifically you should have:
– 1 introductory sentence
– 3 sentences describing the new things brought by
the Europeans (1 for food, 1 for animals, 1 for
disease)
– 3 sentences describing how each of these groups of
new things have changed your life (1 for food, 1 for
animals, 1 for disease)
– 1 sentence telling whether your life is better or worse
– 1 sentence, minimum, explaining why you feel this
way
* Total of 9 complete, correct sentences, minimum