C&C Skills

Ap = answer the prompt Prompt: compare the environmental and demographic impact of the Columbian Exchange on TWO of the following: - The Americas - Africa - Europe

Predict an answer Step 1: Choose the two topics/regions you feel most confident about. Step 2: Based on the prompt and your historical knowledge, predict an answer to the question. Prompt: compare the environmental and demographic impact of the Columbian Exchange on TWO of the following: - The Americas - Africa - Europe Americas: new crops, disease, native pop. decline, new racial/religious identities Africa: new crops, disease, native pop. growth, new racial/religious identities

thesis Which thesis is stronger? Why? Which thesis meets the SAPE standard? Why? “Between 1492 and 1750, the Columbian Exchange radically altered the demographic and environmental make-up of the world. Nowhere were those transformations more significant than in the Americas and Africa. The demographic impact was very different for both regions; while Africa experienced population growth, the Americas saw a decline in the population of natives. Ultimately, Africa and the Americas experienced mostly similar effects from the introduction of new diseases and new religious practices.” “The Columbian Exchange had positive and negative effects on regions like Africa and America. Demographic and environmental changes happened in both regions and both regions faced the negative consequences of the event.”

sub-claim: Differences Which sub-claim is stronger? Why? “One major difference of the impact of the Columbian Exchange was population growth in Africa and depopulation in the Americas.” “The Americas and Africa had difference consequences from the Columbian Exchange, including population effects.”

Direct comparison Don’t just restate your claim! Which direct comparison is stronger? Why? “Africa’s population went up while the Americas went down.” “A key distinction between the effect of the Columbian exchange on both regions was the increase in Africa’s population because of nutrient rich crops while the Americas saw a huge decline in its population due to disease and conflict.” Do set up for your evidence!

evidence: Differences Which piece of evidence is stronger? Why? “In the Americas, populations were decimated by smallpox and conflict with Europeans like the Spanish, Portuguese, English and French who had superior weapons like guns and cannons following the arrival of conquistadors and settlers beginning in the late 15th century. Clear examples of these effects can be seen in the devastation of the Aztec and Inca empires following the arrival of conquistadors like Cortez and Pizarro. While in Africa, new crops such as corn actually stabilized populations and allowed African societies to repopulate relatively quickly despite Europeans coming and raiding for slaves over the course of the 15th through 19th centuries.” “Native Americans died from smallpox and Africans became healthier because of the Columbian Exchange.”

Analysis: Differences Which analysis is stronger? Why? “The reason why Africans became healthier and their population grew was because new crops that were very nutritious were introduced to their diets but Native Americans did not get any healthy crops so they died more easily because new crops did not help their immune systems fight off diseases like smallpox so their populations decreased.” “Unable to combat new diseases like smallpox because natives had not built up immunities to diseases spread by domesticated animals like pigs, many Native American populations were decimated which allowed Europeans to establish control more easily. Additionally, natives lacked the military technology of the Europeans who had a long history of military weapon development and combat experience from years of war in Europe. In contrast, the African slave trade led to the exodus of many able bodied men from Africa but the population of actually increased there after the Columbian Exchange because new crops like corn and potatoes provided communities with nutrient rich additions to their diets.”

Sub-claims: Similarities Which sub-claim is stronger? Why? “Both Africa and the Americas experienced the impact of the introduction of new diseases during the Columbian Exchange.” “Africa and the Americas had the same exact experience with diseases.”

Direct comparison Which direct comparison is stronger? Why? Which direct comparison is stronger? Why? How is this different from the sub-claim? “The disease of smallpox had a negative impact on both Africa and then the Americas later on.” “Diseases like syphilis and smallpox affected Africa and the Americas negatively and indirectly advanced the interests of Europeans.”

Evidence: similarities Which piece of evidence is stronger? Why? “Native Americans were introduced to smallpox by Africans who brought them along with their animals. In Africa, syphilis was a new disease, but not as big of an issue because Africans had stronger natural immune systems than Native Americans.” “In Africa, diseases like syphilis, introduced by traveling European merchants and slave traders, spread easily because most Africans were uneducated about sanitation and the dangers of disease. In America, native populations of the Aztecs and Incas were decimated by smallpox, particularly after outbreaks in the early to mid-16th century. In fact some historians estimate that smallpox led to the deaths of over 50% of the native American population in the Americas by the early 18th century.”

Analysis: similarities Which analysis is stronger? Why? “Both Native Americans and Africans were exposed to new diseases because they had never seen them before and they died a lot because they are deadly.” “The reason why Africans and Native Americans both suffered from new diseases was because they were not immune to them and because they did not have much education with sanitation. In both regions, the devastation of disease weakened the existing societies and allowed Europeans to more easily take control. In the Americas, the devastation was so bad, that Europeans were able to colonize most of the land, while in Africa the impact was not quite as lethal.”

Global context conclusion Which conclusion is more compelling? Why? “Ultimately, the Columbian Exchange and the wave of European colonization that took place in the early modern period had an incredibly negative impact on the native populations of not only the Americas and Africa, but also much of Asia and Oceania. Although Asian populations in places like the Ming Dynasty and Ottoman Empire were not susceptible to disease like native Americans and Africans, and were strong politically and militaristically enough to resist direct control at the hands of the Europeans, they too would eventually fall prey to European economic and political greed by the end of the 18th century.” “The Columbian Exchange had both positive and negative effects on the world. Africa and the Americas certainly saw the worst of it because they just couldn’t handle diseases and European technologies as well as Asians could.”