What did Atahualpa offer Pizarro for his release? Did the Spanish take it? What advantages did Cortes and the Spanish have over the Aztecs? What Latin American territory made its wealth on growing Sugar?

Slavery had existed in Africa for centuries but the demand for labor in the new world brought it to the Americas. Using Africans for labor had several advantages over using Native Americans: Africans had already been exposed to European diseases. Many Africans already had experience in agriculture.

The buying and selling of African slaves became a giant business. By the time the slave trade ended, Europe had imported 9.5 million Africans to the Americas.

Africans imported to the Americas were part of triangular trade. Europe brought manufactured goods to Africa. Africans were brought to the New World. Sugar, coffee, and tobacco were sent back to Europe.

The voyage that brought captured Africans to the West Indies was known as the middle passage. Cruel and horrible.

Draw a diagram explaining triangular trade. Include each player and what they exported. What was the middle passage?

The global transfer of foods, plants, and animals during the colonization of the Americas is known as the Columbian Exchange. Through trade, both the Americas and Europe were exposed to products, people, and ideas that they had never experienced before.

From The New World: tomatoes, squash, pineapples, tobacco, cacao beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and turkey. Corn and potatoes were the most important items to travel from the Americas: they were cheap to crow and very nutritious. Corn and potatoes had more of an impact on people’s lives than any ruler ever had. Life expectancy/health

From The Old World: Horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, bananas, yams, wheat, rice, barley, and oats. Disease had a tragic effect on the Native Americans, killing millions.

Wealth from the new world encouraged new styles of economic growth to Europe. Capitalism – an economic system based on private ownership and the investment of resources, such as money, for profit. Due to capitalism and overseas trade, many merchants had obtained great wealth. Merchants reinvested their profits and businesses all over Europe began to flourish.

Nations developed a new economic policy called mercantilism. The theory stated that a country’s power depended mainly on its wealth. Wealth allowed countries to build strong navies and buy important goods.

The goal of every nation became “Get as rich as possible!” According to mercantilism, a nation could gain wealth in two ways. It could get as much gold and silver as possible. It could sell more than it buys. This is called a favorable balance of trade.

The economic revolution spurred on by the Columbian Exchange encouraged the growth of towns and cities in Europe. It also created a class of rich merchants. The Columbian Exchange and mercantilism increased the wealth of European nations and contributed to the sense of a national identity.