1. STANDARDS:
SS6H1 The student will describe the impact of European contact on Latin America.
b. Explain the impact of the Columbian Exchange on Latin America and Europe in terms of the decline of the indigenous population, agricultural change, and the introduction of the horse.
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2. The
Columbian
Exchange
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3. A New Empire
By the end of the end of the 1500s, the Spanish empire stretched from today’s California-Mexico border southward to the tip of South America.
Thousands of Spanish colonists sailed from Europe and settled in the New World (the Americas).
When the Europeans created contacted with the indigenous peoples, the interaction led to BIG cultural changes.
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4. Spanish Colonies
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5. Columbian
Exchange
Named after Christopher Columbus, the Columbian Exchange is the exchange of physical elements such as crops, goods, animals, diseases, and weapons between Europe and its colonies in the Americas after Columbus’ voyage in 1492.
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6. Christopher Columbus greets Natives
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7. Animals
During this time period, the ONLY domesticated animals in the Americas were…LLAMAS!
European explorers brought horses, pigs, cattle, chickens, goats, donkeys, & sheep.
The horse changed life forever in the Americas because they were used for transportation, labor, and hunting animals.
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9. Plants
With all of these new farm animals, it was time to start planting crops.
Europeans brought cash crops to the Americas: sugarcane, rice, wheat, barley, coffee, bananas, & grapes.
These new crops flourished in the Americas and became mainstays in many Latin American economies.
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10. Sugarcane Plantation in the Caribbean
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11. Plants
Europeans find crops in the Americas like maize (corn), tomatoes, tobacco, cacao (chocolate), beans, squash, potatoes, and cotton.
They bring these plants back to Europe, where they are very popular.
Think—Italian spaghetti…What if they never had tomatoes?
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12. Cacao
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13. Diseases
Europeans (unknowingly) introduced new diseases to Latin America.
These diseases spread by air and touch.
Smallpox, measles, whooping cough, and influenza were the most common.
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14. Old World (Europe, Asia, & Africa) Contribution in the Exchange
New World
(The Americas)
Apples, bananas, citrus fruits, grapes, melons, peaches, pears
Fruits
Pineapples, tomatoes, papaya, strawberries
Broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, onions, radishes
Vegetables
Avocados, green beans, pumpkins, potatoes
Barley, oats, rice, rye, wheat
Grains
Maize (corn)
Black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger
Spices
Chili peppers, vanilla
Coffee, tea
Drinks
Chocolate
Sugar cane, olives
Other Plants
Tobacco
Cattle, chickens, donkeys, goats, horses, pigs, sheep
Animals
Guinea pigs, llamas, turkeys
Cholera, malaria, measles, mumps, small pox, typhoid, yellow fever
Diseases
Syphilis

15. Devastating Effects
Natives had no immunities to European diseases and died by the millions.
Experts estimate that the North American population fell by more than 80 percent between 1492 and 1650.
The Inca empire alone decreased from 13 million to 2 million in less than 100 years.
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16. Smallpox
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17. Devastating Effects
Europeans needed labor to cultivate all the new crops in the Americas, but there weren’t many natives left because of diseases.
They began looking to Africa for a new labor source.
Soon, Europeans begin to steal Africans to work as slaves in the Americas.
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19. Impact Different Foods & Animals
Over time, crops native to the Americas became staples in the diets of Europeans.
These foods provided nutrition, thus helping people live longer.
Economics
Activities like cattle ranching and coffee growing were not possible before this time.
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20. Effects Around the Globe
The Columbian Exchange not only impacted Europe & the Americas, but also…
China:
Arrival of easy-to-grow, nutritious corn helped the population grow tremendously.
Africa:
Two native crops of Americas—corn & peanuts--among most widely grown today
Scholars estimate one-third of all food crops grown in the world are of American origin!
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21. I Am the Horse I wonder if people notice the natives dying.
I am furry and brown.
I wonder if people notice the natives dying.
I hear people groaning because of how bad they hurt.
I see yellow and purple spots on them.
I want to be ridden, but I can’t.
I pretend my owner isn’t sick and is riding me.
I feel his presence on my back.
I touch his hand with my nose.
I worry he might die from disease too.
I cry for him.
I understand that he’s dead now.
I say to myself, “Don’t go”.
I dream he rides me one last time.
I try to hear his voice.
I hope I’ll see him again one day.