1. The Columbian Exchange

2. Goal of European exploration was to gain wealth by:
Exploiting sources of precious metals and raw materials in their colonies
Increase of exported goods from homeland to oversea colonies
This created an extensive trade network

3. Columbian Exchange The exchange of plants and animals
between Europe and the Americas became
known as the Columbian Exchange
Named for Christopher Columbus
This complex process would
have far-reaching results on
people around the world – both
good and bad.

4. Much of what the colonists grew and raised was exported from Europe
In the Americas:
Plantations were created to grow sugar, cotton, vanilla, and other crops
Ranches were introduced to raise livestock from Europe
Much of what the colonists grew and raised was exported from Europe

5. Products native to the Americas were brought back to Europe:
Europeans brought:
Wheat
Citrus fruit
Horses
Cattle
Products native to the Americas were brought back to Europe:
Potatoes
Cocoa
Corn
Tomatoes
Tobacco

6. Horses greatly altered the lifestyle of Native Americans
The exchange of plants and animals transformed economic activity on both sides of the Atlantic
Horses greatly altered the lifestyle of Native Americans
Potatoes became a basic food sample in areas of Europe
Rapid increase in population due to the fact that potato
plants produced more food per acre than any other food
grown there before
New food crops from the Americas supported population growth and new markets in other parts of the world
Maize and sweet potatoes to China encouraged
population explosion during the Qing Dynasty

7. However, some aspects of the Columbian Exchange were deadly
People in the Americas had no immunity to European diseases
Smallpox and measles wiped out civilizations
Population of Mexico dropped from 25 million to 1 million in 130 years after Europeans arrived
“Encomienda”
Granted by Spain to settlers
Right to use Native Americans as laborers
on plantations
Native Americans often worked under
harsh conditions

8. The Atlantic Slave Trade

9. Slavery had been practiced in Africa since ancient times
Demand for enslaved Africans increased with European settlement of the Americas in 1490s and the planting of sugarcane

10. In the 1500s, plantations were created in Brazil and the Caribbean Islands to grow sugarcane
Many laborers were required to successfully grow sugarcane
Native Americans could not provide the needed labor due to their loss of population from European diseases
Enslaved Africans were shipped to the Americas to help with the labor shortage

11. 1518 – Spanish ship carried the first enslaved Africans directly from West Africa to the Americas
Trade of enslaved people would grow drastically
Became part of a triangular trade connecting Europe, Africa and the Americas

12. Triangular Trade European ships took manufactured
goods (guns, cloth) to Africa to be
traded for enslaved people
Enslaved Africans then sent to the
Americas where they were sold
European ships then brought tobacco,
sugar and cotton back to Europe

14. Middle Passage – the journey from Africa to the Americas
As many as 10 million Africans were brought to the Americas between 1500 and 1800
Middle Passage – the journey from Africa to the Americas
Many died on this journey
If they survived the journey, many died from European diseases

15. Death rates higher for newly arrived
slaves than those of people born in
the Americas
Slaveholders rarely encouraged slaves
to have children
They thought it was cheaper to buy a
new slave than rearing a child from
birth to working age

16. Sources of Enslaved Africans
Before Europeans arrived, most enslaved people in Africa were prisoners of war
Europeans bought slaves from merchants in return for gold, guns and other European goods
Slaves were first obtained from the coast, but as demand grew, traders had to move further inland
African rulers who traded enslaved people viewed the slave trade as a source of income
Some even sent raiders into defenseless villages to find victims

17. Impact of Slave Trade in Africa
Depopulation
Communities lost their youngest and strongest men and women
Increase of war and raids on neighboring people
Loss of creative societies
Benin – once brilliant society who got pulled into slave trade
Population declined and war increased
People of Benin lost faith in their gods, their art deteriorated, and human sacrifice became more common

18. Impact of Slave Trade in Americas
Blending of culture
In some places, African culture
blended with the customs of the
locals to create a vibrant new
culture
In the US, culture did not blend
the same way, but African culture
still had an influence

19. End of Slavery
Quakers (Society of Friends) began to condemn slavery in 1770s
French abolished slavery in 1790s after French Revolution
Britain abolished slavery in their empire in 1833
Slavery continued in the US until the Civil War