Reading Questions
Objective: Explain the Causes of the Columbian Exchange and the Consequences on the Western and Eastern Hemispheres.
- What were the Causes of the Columbian Exchange
- Explain the negative and positive effects of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas.
- Explain the negative and positive effects of the Columbian Exchange on The Old World. Include information for all regions
What was the Colombian Exchange?
The enormous networked of communication, migration, trade, disease, and the transfer of plants and animals generated by European colonial empires n the Americas was dubbed "The Columbian Exchange"
Robert W. Strayer Ways of the World #rd Edition 2019
In this era, people, chiefly Europeans and Africans, moved to distant lands, carrying with them species of animals, insects, bacteria and plants that reshaped ecosystems. These biological invasions is what historians have termed "The Colombian Exchange."
Craig Lockard, World 2001
The global diffusion of biology that took place after the voyages of Columbus.
Mr. Youngblood AP Teacher (don't know when he wrote this)
All of the above definitions of the Colombian Exchange have one thing in common and that is biology. Biological exchange through trade networks in nothing new. The Black Plague that was spread through the Silk Roads trade networks is one example. This biological exchange would have a deeper world wide consequences.
Robert W. Strayer Ways of the World #rd Edition 2019
In this era, people, chiefly Europeans and Africans, moved to distant lands, carrying with them species of animals, insects, bacteria and plants that reshaped ecosystems. These biological invasions is what historians have termed "The Colombian Exchange."
Craig Lockard, World 2001
The global diffusion of biology that took place after the voyages of Columbus.
Mr. Youngblood AP Teacher (don't know when he wrote this)
All of the above definitions of the Colombian Exchange have one thing in common and that is biology. Biological exchange through trade networks in nothing new. The Black Plague that was spread through the Silk Roads trade networks is one example. This biological exchange would have a deeper world wide consequences.
Effects on the AmericasEuropeans brought new plants and animals to the Americas. Plants like wheat, rice, grapes, carrots and cash crops like cotton, tobacco, and sugar not only changed people's diet, but changed the environment. To open up land for the sugar, cotton and other plantations, forests were cut down resulting in dramatic deforestation. In North America , shipbuilding in the northern English colonies took its toll of forests. Additionally, Mining was a huge industry for European colonizers. Wood, from forests, was needed to heat smelters that separated iron ore. Animals like sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and horses contributed to the destruction of the ecosystems by overgrazing speeded up erosion of rich soil. The human toll that the exchange of pathogens caused was devastating for the Native Population. Most historians now agree that over a period of about 300 years, about 90 percent of Natives died of about 15 different diseases or related causes such as lack of care and starvation. The vast majority died of European diseases, like small pox, measles, and influenza. Native populations had no immunity to diseases brought from Old World settlers and the livestock they brought. In 1620 when the Pilgrims landed in New England, typhus or the bubonic plague had depopulated the entire coastal region a few years before. Vermin, like mosquitoes and rats, also brought from the Old World to New, also spread diseases. The horse would permanently change Central Plain natives. Horses that escaped from the Spanish ended up in the hands of the Pawnee who would abandon agriculture to become Buffalo hunters. The Comanche would build a formidable empire using the horse and their equestrian skills. |
Africa
Millions of African slaves were transported to the Americas from regions throughout Africa, especially West Africa. In the long-term the overall population of Africa actually increased slightly as a result of new, more nutritional, easily grown crops like potatoes. In the short term some areas saw a population decline as a huge percentage of young men, the most desired slaves, were transported across the Atlantic. This caused a gender imbalance, as there were more women than men. It also led to the rise of states that participated in the slave trade like the Asante and the Kingdom of the Congo.
|
EuropeEurope was the region that benefited most from this biological exchange. The population of Europe exploded as a result of food from the New World. Corn and especially potatoes could grow in dry soil and tended to be resistant to pests. New World crops provided more calories per acre than crops from the Old World. According to one estimate, Europe’s population grew from 67 million in 1500 to 390 million in 1900. One example of this benefit was in Ireland. The potato became a staple food in Ireland leading to a population explosion. Unfortunately, in the 1800's the potato crops got a fungus leading to a famine. That resulted in many Irish migrating to the United States in the Mid 17th century. |
Asia
The population of China exploded as a result of food from the New World. Corn and especially sweet potatoes could grow in dry soil and tended to be resistant to pests. New World crops provided more calories per acre than crops from the Old World. Additionally, people began populating regions of China, especially in the south, where new crops could be grown. According to one estimate, China’s population grew from 84 million in 1500 to 150 million in 1700.
|
Middle East
Like other places in the Old World, in the Middle East, corn led to a population increase. Tobacco and coffee, both American in origin, became very popular leading to the establishment of many coffee houses where people went an drank coffee and smoked tobacco. Many of these coffee houses encountered opposition. Coffee and tobacco were seen as intoxicants. But to many that frequented the coffee houses, the social interaction led to the spread of new ideas.