1. The Columbian Exchange
The Beginning of a great exchange between
the Old World (Europe)
and
the New World (the Americas).

2. The Columbian Exchange
To what does the phrase “Columbian Exchange” refer?

3. The Columbian Exchange
In one sense, the
“Columbian Exchange”
refers to PRODUCTS that were exchanged between the New and Old Worlds after Columbus’ arrival in the Americas.

4. The Columbian Exchange
BUT in A MORE COMPLETE sense, the
“Columbian Exchange”
refers to EVERYTHING that was exchanged …
including DISEASES.

5. The Columbian Exchange
HERE’S THE WAY IT WORKED…

6. Following Columbus’ voyages of discovery, Spanish conquistadors encountered the Aztec and Incan empires in the New World.
Aztec Empire
Mayan
States
Inca Empire
In 1492, two major empires in the Americas, the Aztecs and the Inca, ruled many people.

7. States and Empires in 1519 CE
Slide 32
States & Empires
States and Empires in 1519 CE
Map by Robert Prom

8. Slide 33
By 1600, the Spanish conquistadors had conquered the Aztec and Incan empires and extended Spain’s territorial claims even further.
Map by Robert Prom

9. The Columbian Exchange Population & Environment
Slide 17
The Columbian Exchange
Population & Environment
Americas: turkey, pumpkin, corn or maize, chocolate, tomato, tobacco, potato, chili pepper, peanut, pineapple, beans
Afroeurasia: citrus, cotton (varieties) coffee, sugar, tea, wheat, yam, banana, rice, millet, sorghum.
Plants, animals, and micro-organisms of the “Old World” were exchanged with those of the Americas across the oceans.

10. The Columbian Exchange
Population & Environment
The Columbian Exchange
New crops, plants, and animals were exchanged world-wide.
Luxury products like coffee, chocolate, tea, tobacco, and spices meant new cultural habits for those with money to spend.
has a history of coffee with chronology timeline

11. Trade in the new products expanded world-wide.
Trade & Manufacturing
Trade in the new products expanded world-wide.
All images were snipped out of larger images or produced on Adobe photoshop. A few are from commercial catalogs and the codfish is snipped from a historical image at a public library, e.g.

12. The Columbian Exchange
Population & Environment
The Columbian Exchange
HOWEVER…
As was mentioned earlier, new crops, plants, and animals were not the only things exchanged world-wide.
has a history of coffee with chronology timeline

13. The Columbian Exchange
Population & Environment
The Columbian Exchange
SO, when discussing the Columbian Exchange, we must include as part of the exchange new diseases which were an unintended consequence of cultural interaction.
has a history of coffee with chronology timeline

14. The Columbian Exchange
Population & Environment
The Columbian Exchange
"Old World" diseases had a devastating impact on Native American populations because they had no natural immunity to the new diseases.
The smallpox epidemic is believed to have resulted in the largest death tolls among Native Americans, surpassing any wars and far exceeding the mortality from the Black Death.
has a history of coffee with chronology timeline

15. The Columbian Exchange
Population & Environment
The Columbian Exchange
Population of New World before the arrival of Columbus is estimated between 50 and 100 million.
It is estimated that upwards of 80–95 percent of the Native American population was decimated within the first 100–150 years following 1492.
The most affected regions in the Americas lost 100% of their population.
Estimated Population Loss ~ 63,750,000
has a history of coffee with chronology timeline

16. The Columbian Exchange
Population & Environment
The Columbian Exchange
A more complete list of things exchanged must include:
Crops,
Plants,
Animals,
People (slaves)
Cultural characteristics, and
diseases
among other things
has a history of coffee with chronology timeline

17. Slide 13
Increased global interaction sped up the process of world change.
From 1400 to 1800 the rate of change accelerated more rapidly in many areas of human activity.
Population & Environment
Ideas & Inventions
Trade & Manufacturing
States & Empires

18. Summary: The Columbian Exchange contributed to global exchange which led to accelerating world change.
World trade volume increased dramatically and began to shift its center from Asia to the Atlantic region.
States increased their power with gunpowder conquests and new sources of mercantile wealth.
In Europe, rising economic elites enjoyed growing wealth, which led them to challenge old landed aristocracies and monarchs.