The Columbian Exchange

Things To Know Definition of Columbia Exchange What was the impact of the exchange? What were the results for Europe, the Americas, and Africa of the "Columbian Exchange"?

The Columbian Exchange was a dramatically widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations (including slaves), communicable disease, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres (Old World and New World)

-- Christopher Columbus “...all the trees were as different from ours as day from night, and so the fruits, the herbage, the rocks, and all things.” -- Christopher Columbus The differences between the two hemispheres was often noted by those who were present at the time when Europeans were making their first incursions into the Americas. *      Many Native Americans upon seeing Europeans and their animals for the first time were so shocked at what they saw that they did not know what to make of the invaders. Some thought the Europeans were gods, and when they saw men on horseback they were not sure if they were looking at two animals or one.   *      Europeans were equally impressed by the differences. Christopher Columbus wrote that “all the trees were as different from ours as day from night, and so the fruits, the herbage, the rocks, and all things.” *      A Frenchman in Brazil in the 16th century wrote that America is so truly “different from Europe, Asia and Africa in the living habits of its people, the forms of its animals, and, in general, in that which the earth produces, that it can well be called the new world….”

Many Native Americans upon seeing Europeans and their animals for the first time were so shocked at what they saw that they did not know what to make of the invaders. Some thought the Europeans were gods, and when they saw men on horseback they were not sure if they were looking at two animals or one. Europeans were equally impressed by the differences. Christopher Columbus wrote that “all the trees were as different from ours as day from night, and so the fruits, the herbage, the rocks, and all things.”  

  A Frenchman in Brazil in the 16th century wrote that America is so truly “different from Europe, Asia and Africa in the living habits of its people, the forms of its animals, and, in general, in that which the earth produces, that it can well be called the new world….”

According to historian Alfred Crosby, the exchange of plants, animals and pathogens between the two hemispheres was biologically “the most spectacular thing that has ever happened to humans," and he coined the phenomenon the Columbian Exchange.

Impact of Columbian Exchange on Native Americans Disease- 90 percent decrease in population resulted because of lack of immunity to European diseases Europeans, unknowingly brought measles, mumps, chickenpox, smallpox, typhus and others. Political and spiritual leaders died and left traditions in disarray; subsistence (food) cycles were disrupted; family life was devastated. These losses put American Indians at a disadvantage when they fought to protect their lands or attempted to negotiate treaties with imperial powers. Since the Europeans were largely immune to the diseases that destroyed native life, they were able to take and hold an advantage over the tribes.

Impact on Native Americans Europeans were learning of the profitability of the plantation system therefore…. Economic benefit of using local forced labor What crops?

Sugar, Tobacco and Slavery On the other side of the Atlantic, another imported crop had negative social and demographic consequences that contributed to much human suffering. Sugar was one of the first Old World plants brought to the Americas, where it thrived in the tropical climate of the Caribbean and northeastern Brazil. The process of turning sugar cane into granulated sugar, however, is very labor intensive. Due to the depopulating effects of Old World diseases, the number of Native Americans was not sufficient to meet the labor demands of the predominantly white-owned sugar plantations. This was also true for tobacco and cacao plantation..

Europeans had their palettes sweetened by American sugar and chocolate, their nervous system stimulated by American tobacco, and their bodies clothed with American cotton, but at a tremendous cost to humanity. The death rate from the brutal treatment of slaves was high, and we can only imagine the magnitude of human suffering caused by a system that uprooted people from their homeland, often separated them from their loved ones, and forced them into hard labor for the rest of their lives.

Impact on Africans With decline of native work force, labor was needed from elsewhere. Slave trade exploded, especially in Western Africa Over the next 300 years (1500-1800) almost 10 million people were taken

MAP 26.2 The Atlantic slave trade, 1500-1800.

Amazing Grace http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4eUSAKyVA

Impact on Europeans Europeans began to cross the Atlantic creating one of the largest voluntary migrations in world history. Overseas expansion inflamed national rivalries in Europe causing conflict. Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 Growth of trade markets completely changed the world FOREVER.

Columbian Exchange New World crops maize (corn), vanilla, white/sweet potatoes, squash (incl. pumpkin), manioc/cassava, tobacco, peanuts, tomatoes, pineapples, papaya, avocados  Old World crops rice, wheat, barley oats, rye, turnips onions, cabbage lettuce, peaches pears, sugar, olives, bananas

Columbian Exchange New World domesticated animals dogs llamas guinea pigs fowl (a few species) Old World domesticated animals dogs horses donkeys pigs cattle goats sheep barnyard fowl

Old World Diseases European disease was particularly virulent Smallpox, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, scarlet fever and influenza were the most common diseases Nearly all of the European diseases were communicable by air and touch. The pathway of these diseases was invisible to both Indians and Europeans

An Exchange of Pathogens The smallpox virus

Europeans believed that it was God’s will that Indians died No germ theory at the time of contact. Illness in Europe was considered to be the consequence of sin Indians, who were largely “heathen” or non-Christian were regarded as sinners thus subject to illness as a punishment

A Demographic Collapse Aztecs afflicted with Smallpox In Mexico alone, the native population fell from roughly 30 million in 1519 to only 3 million in 1568. Modern-day victims of smallpox

Disease raced ahead of people In most cases, Indian peoples became sick even before they had direct contact with Europeans Trade goods that traveled from tribe to tribe though middlemen were often the source There is little or no evidence to think that Europeans intentionally infected trade items for trade with Indians to kill them

Mainland outbreaks Diseases, especially smallpox, were transported from the Caribbean to the mainland by the Cortez expedition in the 1630s A sick African infected the Aztecs of Mexico City Incubation of smallpox is 14 days—this causes the disease to spread over great distances Smallpox killed half the Iroquois populations in 1738 and again in 1759 Entire tribe of Mandans died during the winter of 1837-1838

New World Microbes Not all pathogens traveled from Europe to the Americas Syphilis, polio, hepatitis were new world diseases African slaves were less vulnerable to European diseases than were Indians Why? Europeans succumbed to Malaria and yellow fever easily

What was the Effect of the Columbian Exchange? a. Both hemispheres were introduced to new foods and animals that changed entire societies. b. Potatoes and corn became major food sources for Europeans allowing populations to increase greatly. c. The introduction of pigs, cows, and horses gave new food sources and new animals for the Native Americans to use.

What was the Effect of the Columbian Exchange? d. The diseases the Europeans brought with them killed up to 90% of the Native Americans in the New World. European conquest of the Native Americans was made easy by the effect disease had on the Natives. e. The Native Americans had never been exposed to these diseases so their bodies could not fight them. Europeans had lived with these diseases for thousands of year and were not as likely to die from them.