Columbian Exchange

1. Columbian Exchange AP World History Period 4 1450-1750

2. What is the Columbian Exchange? • The term was created by Al Crosby. • A historian at the University of Texas. • Defined as: • “the contact between any two people geographically separated from one another results in an ‘exchange’ of physical elements.” • The 3 main elements are: • Animals • Plants • Microbes

3. Animals • The only domesticated animal in Latin America before Europeans arrived, was the Llama. • Turkeys were the only domesticated animal in North America. • Europeans brought: • Cattle, chickens, donkeys, goats, horses, pigs, rabbits, and sheep. • Not all animals that Europeans brought came directly from Europe. • Some animals came from Africa and Asia, with the Europeans

4. Animals • New animals completely changed the use of land. • Significant environmental impact. • European livestock multiplied quickly. • Destroyed land with their hooves. • Introduction of cattle and horses provided new forms of transportation and mobility in warfare. • Also provided hides and meat.

5. Animals • Animal fertilizer became an important part of agricultural system. • European horses, cattle, and pigs also affected American lives. • Beaver and other fur-bearing animals significantly influenced the exchange between the Americans and Europeans.

6. Plants • Europeans brought cash crops to the Americas and took new cash crops back. • To Europe: • Avocados, beans, cashews, chili peppers, cacao, corn, cotton, papayas, peanuts, pecans, pineapples, potatoes, rubber, squash, strawberries, sweat potatoes, tobacco, tomato, and vanilla. • To the Americas: • Bananas, black pepper, citrus fruits, coffee, grapes, garlic, oats, onions, lettuce, peaches, pears, sugar, rice, rye, and wheat.

7. Plants • Like the animals, some came from Africa and Asia. • New crops flourished in the Americas. • Many indigenous plants were crowded out by new crops and weeds. • Old world crops were stronger. • Had a more competitive original environment. • Economy shifts to large scale agricultural production. • Very labor intensive. • Europeans adopted crops from the Americas.

8. Plants • Foods such as bananas and wheat that diversified American diets. • Other crops like sugar cane were intended for cultivation through exploited labor. • American crops such as maize and potatoes had a big impact on European agriculture.

9. Old World Microbes • European diseases were particularly harsh. • The most common diseases exchanged were: • Smallpox, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, scarlet fever, and influenza. • Nearly all of the European diseases were communicable by air and touch. • The pathway for these diseases was invisible to both Native Americans and Europeans.

10. European Beliefs regarding Disease • At the time when Europeans arrived in the Americas, they had no theories about germs. • Illness in Europe was considered to be the consequence for sinning. • Native Americans were seen as “heathen” or non-Christian. • Therefore, they were regarded as sinners and subjected to illness as a punishment.

11. Rapid Spread of Disease • In most cases, Native Americans became sick even before they had direct contact with Europeans. • Trade goods traveling from tribe to tribe through middlemen were often the vehicle for the spread of disease. • There is no creditable evidence that Europeans intentionally infected trade items in order to infect Native Americans.

12. Smallpox • Deadliest disease that the Europeans brought to the Americas. • Central Mexico’s population decreased from: • 25 million in 1510 to less than 1 million in 1605. • Hispaniola’s population decreased from: • 1 million in 1492 to 46,000 in 1512. • North America’s population decreased. • 90% of Native Americans were gone within 100 years of the landing on Plymouth Rock.

13. Why were Europeans Immune? • Has everything to do with their original environment. • Most pathogens originate with animals or insects. • Domesticated animals and plants were more numerous in Europe. • Greater diversity meant more ecological protection. • However, Europeans did bring home some American diseases such as syphilis.

14. Demographic Shift • Native American population decreases. • Diseases were a major factor. • This assisted European conquest and accelerated cultural change. • Europeans need labor. • Import African slaves. • Mixing of all three populations occurred in varying degrees.

15. Demographic Shift • Europeans moved to the Americas to oversee economic production. • Focused economic efforts on mineral wealth or producing cash crops. • American economic system was changes to met the needs of Europeans. • Traditional forms of hunting/gathering and agriculture were disrupted. • Native Americans became dependant on European manufactured goods.

16. Demographic Shift • European settlements introduced Christian institutions and new forms of government. • Disrupted traditional Native American cultural and political processes, suppressed them, or destroyed them.

17. Columbian ExchangeClass Questions • Why, and in what ways, was the Columbian Exchange a particularly significant case of global contact? • Was western Europe the chief beneficiary of the exchange? Explain why or why not. • What balance was there between the economic dependency of the Americas and the ideas, technology, and goods they received from Europe? • How is the Columbian Exchange seen as an ecological frontier? • How did microbial exchanges shape human history?