1. The Columbian Exchange

2. Columbian Exchange Activity
1. What popular dishes or foods do you eat that would have been impossible before the Columbian Exchange?
2. If you could only eat American or Afro-Eurasian foods, which would you choose?
3. The foods we eat are more than just calories for survival; they often have religious or cultural significance. Give one example of this, from today’s discussion or your own knowledge.

3. Columbian Exchange
Enormous network of communication, migration, trade, the spread of disease, and the transfer of plants and animals generated by European contact in the Americas

4. Impact on Amerindians Spread of diseases epidemics
Smallpox, measles, influenza
Unintentional transfer of vermin, including mosquitoes and rats
Cash crops were grown on plantations, mainly with coerced labor

5. Impact on Amerindians
Afroeurasian fruit trees, grains, sugar, and domesticated animals brought to Americas
Horses, pigs, cattle
Horses transformed lifestyles of Plains Indians
Other foods were brought by African slaves
Okra, rice

6. Summary
European colonization and the introduction of European agriculture and settlement practices affected the physical environment through deforestation and soil depletion
Death, enslavement, or subjugation of millions of Amerindians
Importation of African slave labor to replace Amerindians
Destruction of Aztec and Inca Empires

7. Impact on Europe, Asia, and Africa
American foods became staple crops in parts of Afroeurasia
Potatoes, maize (corn), tomatoes
Cash crops grown in the Americas were exported, mainly to Europe and the Middle East in this period
Sugar, tobacco

8. Summary
Populations in Afro-Eurasia benefitted nutritionally from the increased diversity of American food crops
Population skyrockets in Europe and China
Europe in 1400: 60 million
Europe in 1900: 390 million
In Africa, new crops help offset population loss to the Atlantic Slave Trade

9. 2012 Comparative Essay Prompt
Compare demographic and environmental effects of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas with the Columbian Exchange’s demographic and environmental effects on ONE of the following regions between 1492 and 1750:
Africa
Asia
Europe

10. A2 Winners
The Columbian Exchange affected Europe and the Americas similarly because they both traded essential food products with each other; however, the environmental effects were worse in the Americas due to deforestation and soil depletion, and the demographic effects were worse in the Americas because Europeans brought epidemics that the Amerindians were not immune to in the New World.
Both the Americas and Europe were introduced to new animals and crops and both were introduced to new diseases, but America’s population decreased while Europe’s increased.
While the Columbian Exchange brought both Amerindian and African people under the control of Europe, the Americas and Africa differed in that America’s population decreased and there were many more Europeans moving to the Americas.

11. A3 Winners
The Columbian Exchange affected both Europe and the Americas in the exchanging of plants, animals, and germs, and the diffusion of food allowed agricultural increases in both; however, they differ in the fact that America’s population declined while Europe’s population increased.
Both Europe and the Americas received new crops from the Columbian Exchange, and they were both affected by disease, but they differed in that the European’s population was increasing while the America’s population was decreasing, causing the migration of Europeans to the Americas.
While the Americas and Europe both gave each other new crops, they differed in that the Americas were exposed to European diseases, resulting in a population decrease, while Europe’s population increased along with crops from the Americas.

12. B1 Winners
Although both Africa and Europe were positively affected by the exchange of crops during the Columbian Exchange, Africa’s population did not decline while Americas plummeted, and both populations were forced out of their land and faced cultural changes.
While both America and Europe diffused crops and livestock to one another, Europe spread diseases such as smallpox to the Americas while European populations increased and American Indian populations plummeted.
While both Europe and the Americas gained new food sources, the Europeans brought a multitude of diseases to the New World and wiped out several species of plants and animals, while the Native Americans gave them nothing but food.

13. B3 Winners
The Americas and Europe both benefited from the Columbian Exchange by new crops and new animals, but the Americas were negatively affected with new diseases as well as enslavement of the Native Americans.
The demographic and environmental effects of the Columbian Exchange between the Americas and Europe differed in the population of the Americas declined due to disease while Europe’s population did not, was similar in that both regions gained new crops, and differed in that the environment of the Americas was destroyed.
While both Europe and the Americas gained a lot of new crops like corn, tomatoes, and wheat, they differed in the fact that America experienced a decrease in the native population because of diseases like smallpox and an increase in immigrants coming from Europe.

14. Bridge Winners
The demographic changes in Africa and the Americas as a result of the Columbian Exchange were similar in that large masses were forced into slavery and Europeans became the affluent members of society. However, most of the Amerindian population died from disease, while Africa’s didn’t.
While both Europe and the Americas had an interchanging of crops and they both experienced new diseases, the American population decreased due to diseases and the European population increased due to new nutritious crops from the Americas.