The Columbian Exchange Statistics By the Numbers Estimated population of Europe in 1492: about 60 million Estimated population of the Americas in 1492: 40-100 million Estimated population of Europe in 1800: 150 million Estimated population of the Americas in 1800: 25 million (the vast majority of whom were of European or African descent) Major domesticated animals in the New World in 1492: dog, llama Major domesticated animals in the Old World in 1492: horse, cow, pig, sheep, goat, chicken, camel, oxen, cat, dog Major edible plants unique to the New World in 1492: maize (corn), potato, squash, cassava (manioc), tomato, bell pepper, chili pepper, avocado, squash, pumpkin, peanut, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, …show more content…
You cannot understand why you speak the language you speak, why you live in the nation you live in, or even why you eat the food you eat. If you don't understand the Columbian Exchange, much of what you think you know about the history of the Americas may be wrong. Spanish soldiers did less to defeat the Incas and Aztecs than smallpox did. Divine Providence did less to bless the Puritan settlers of the Mayflower with good health and fortune than the Pilgrims' own immune systems did. In the Columbian Exchange, ecology became destiny. Powerful environmental forces, understood by no one alive at the time and by very few people even today, determined who would thrive and who would die. And that may be the most shocking truth revealed to those who take the time to understand the Columbian Exchange: we, as humans, cannot always control our own destinies. The most important historical actors in this story are not Christopher Columbus or Moctezuma or Hernán Cortés. They are the smallpox virus, the pig, the potato, and the kernel of
The long-term effects of the Columbian exchange included the swap of food, crops, and animals between the New World and Old World, and the start of the transoceanic trade. In order to produce a profit, Portuguese explorers were the first to established sugar cane plantations in Brazil. They then sold this crop to the Old World where it was a popular commodity because it provided Europeans with a sweetener for foods. In addition, European produce was brought to the New World, including “…wheat, vines, horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens… Where they sharply increased supplies of food and animal energy.” This fusion of crops between the Old and New World became fundamental in enhancing the diets and food of both populations.
When, Columbus set foot on America he initiated a biological, ecological, and economic exchange. Exchanges of slaves, animals, technology, plants, animals, diseases transformed European and Native American ways of life. The plants that were exchanged in the Columbian Exchange changed both the culture and the economy of the Old and New Worlds. There were many new plants discovered in the Americas which included maize, chili peppers, peanuts, tomatoes, avocado, sweet potatoes, pineapple, and cacao, but the two main plants were the maize and potato. New farming equipment like the plow was also introduced to the new cultivate more land. Although some farming equipment were discovers slaves were still used to harvest sugar canes, field tobacco,
What many people only know about Christopher Columbus’s expedition is that he found the Americas. While this is true, he did find a completely new frontier that was unknown to the Old World, his findings re-shaped global consumption patterns from the seventeenth century. He found a New World filled with resources that the old world hasn’t seen before. When he found the new world he brought with him European plants and animal species that were foreign to the citizens of the New World. The Columbian Exchange introduced many foods that are still essential to consumption in today’s world along with the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The potato is a prime example of how the Columbian Exchange changed global consumption patterns because it was nutritious and had an abundant amount of calories in it and caused a mass population increase in areas where the potato was available. The use of slaves also increased exponentially when sugar cane was introduced. This was a very cheap, productive way to produce a large amount of sugar and it was used by many Old World countries. The findings of these new world products created a rise in global consumption and production because products were introduced to the both the New World and the Old World and there instantly became a large spike in the availability of products. Along with this, the old world decided to go out and get themselves involved in the New World because they saw an opportunity
Microbes, (diseases) were a definite negative in terms of the Columbian Exchange. A majority of the native people had once response to the arrival of Europeans and that was “death”. It is estimate that more than 50% and as high as 90 % . Some people
Three ID’s 1. Columbian Exchange- was an exchange of culture, metals, food, animals, plants, and diseases from New world between Europe. It started in the 15th century and lasted through the 17th century. Europe befitted the most and New World befitted the least from Columbian Exchange. 2.
and Old world, and the deadly interactions of the natives and Europeans. Some examples of new foods
The diseases that the European explorers brought over, and the effect they had on the Native Americans, were by far the worst parts of the Columbian Exchange. While some people may believe that war and mistreatment of the Natives were what caused 80-95% of them to perish, the actual cause was diseases like measles and small pox. According to Dinesh D’Souza, before the Europeans arrived, there was between 15 and 20 million Indians, but 150 years later, there was only a small amount left. In “The Crimes of Christopher Columbus”, D’Souza adds that since the Indians hadn’t seen those types of diseases before, they had not yet developed any resistance or immunity to them. The purpose of that statement is to explain why so many Indians were affected
Ever since the people from Spain came to Latin America, everything changed. The only reason they came was for three things, gold, god and glory. The native americans saw what they brought like horses and guns. Not only did they came with these new goods the natives never saw before, the spaniards decided to treat them as slaves and take their goods to Spain. This was known as the Columbian Exchange since the natives would give their goods to Spain, and Spain would bring their goods to Latin America. During this Columbian Exchange, the natives got diseases that the spaniards carried with them, causing lots of them to die. Since the spaniards had most
The Columbian Exchange refers to the period around 1492 when Europeans loaded their ships with supplies and headed across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The Europeans had brought grains such as wheat, barley, rice and oats with them since these were the staples in Europe at the time. They also brought citrus fruit, bananas, peaches and sugar cane. These crops were unknown to the Americas and the millions of people who lived there. However, these new and exotic plants flourished in this new environment. The Europeans also introduced several animals that were not native to the Americas. Some of the animals were horses, pigs, chicken, cattle, dogs and bees. The Americas had so much untouched land that these animals were able to thrive and
Plants like tobacco white potato peanuts squash pumpkin and so much more as well as animals such as turkey where brought over from the Americans. Earthworms rice wheat oats rye peaches pears and sugar were brought over by the old world. Literally changing the land under both the new world and old worlds feet. The Europeans brought dirt that housed weeds to the coast of the Americas where it took root and grew exponentially. Europeans stripped the land of the trees exposing the earth to an extreme amount of sunlight and stress that left dead grass. Taking its place were weeds that the English brought over that were able to withstand the extreme amount of stress. Leaving the lands covered in the Alienated plants. Foreigners cultivated and formed the land into what was necessary to perform what they needed to do changing the geography and ecological aspects of the world
There, many items and ideas were traded, good and bad, such as diseases, plants, livestock, and technology. European countries flourished from the exchange at the new world and even experienced a population boom. Many good were successful and became popular in Europe such as tobacco, corn, and potatoes. These foods changed many diets and cuisines across Europe and Asia. For example, capsicum peppers from the Americas transformed South and Southeastern Asian cuisine.
This not only impacted the animal life but the plant life also. The “New World” had a wide range of plants that were unknown to the Europeans such as potatoes, corn, and chocolate, silk and many other plants, which were probably put into extinction by Christopher Columbus. (RTAP 33) The Indians treasured all of these plants and used them to the minimum. For example coco was not allowed to be used unless you had permission from the Inca or his governor. They used this plant to give them strength. (RTAP 33)
when the colonists arrived to america, the "new world", they found that the native Americans mainly cultivated beans, maize (corn), and squash, in north america. Cassava, corn, potatoes, and quinoa, in south america. There was few domesticated animals such as guinea pigs and turkeys in mesoamerica, domestics dogs were spread, also there alpacas and llamas, they where used for
1.The introduction to new plants, animals, and technologies altered the natural environment of North America by impacting its economy and improving the overall natural environment of North America. For example, after the native new world plants such as tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, and lowly potato eventually revolutionized and drastically improved the international economy, in return the Old World introduced crops and animals to the Americans(New World). Columbus supplied the Old World with animals such as cattle, swine, and horses; the horses made the environment highly mobile and wide ranged traveling through the Old World. Columbus also brought sugar kane, which flourished and forced the migration of millions of African slaves to the New World. Unfortunately, during
By natural selection in the New World, the Indians had the upper hand in agriculture against Jamestown, yet the tables were turned when the Indians lent a hand providing the cure to scurvy, and corn to feed the struggling foreigners. Had the Indians not assisted, the ill intentions of the Europeans may not have been carried