Colton McCullah Period 4 September 12, 2011 Analyze the effects of the Columbian Exchange (the interchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the New World) on the population and economy in the period 1550 to 1700.

Old World: Europe, Asia, and Africa. New World: The Americas **The New World was first discovered by Christopher Columbus.

Consisted of trades between the Old and New Worlds. Trades included; animals, plants, maize, potatoes, beans, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, etc. Europeans also brought disease to the Americas, which had a devastating impact. **Europeans had never tried tomatoes before and thought it was poison when they discovered it. Columbian Exchange:

Effect on Population: ***Diseases brought by the Europeans to the Americas were fatal. Amerindians did not have any defense against these diseases as they had not been exposed to them before. (Smallpox specifically) ***Also, Amerindians returned the favor by sending the spaniards back with a new disease themselves, syphilis. This disease spread wildly through Europe. ***It is estimated that in Mexico, the population fell from 25.3 million to 1 million. Also, in Peru it dropped from about 1.3 million to 600,000.

Economic Impact ***The Spanish Inflation: Large population increase led to a steep demand for food and goods. Prices rose higher than what people could afford. Thus their money became less valuable. Phillip II paid his armies and foreign debt with money they didn’t have, therefore the inflation spread to other countries.

*China: Corn (which was very easy to grow) proved have great nutritional value and helped the population grow tremendously. *Africa: Still today, corn and peanuts brought from America, are most widely grown in Africa. ***It is believed that approximately 1/3 of all grown food crops, have originated from America.

*Inflation hurts Spain (as well as other countries) tremendously. *People had more options regarding food and other goods due to worldwide trade. *Spread of disease was catastrophic. *Education of farming and raising crops was spread worldwide. ***Worldwide trade was accomplished and long voyages were executed (horses were used on long journeys as well)