A Story of Geography, Trade, & the Migration of Goods & People Cory May - 4/18/2011
A widespread exchange of plants, animals, cultures, humans (free & slave), diseases, and ideas between the Old World and the New World Essentially started after Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas in 1492.
OLD WORLD Citrus Fruits Apples Bananas Mangoes, Watermelons Grapes Onions Coffee Wheat Rice Cinnamon Almonds, Walnuts Oats, Barley Tea Soybeans, Lettuce NEW WORLD Maize Tomatoes Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes Cassava (Manioc/Yucca) Vanilla Para (Rubber Tree) Cacao – Chocolate Tobacco Chili Peppers, Paprika Beans Wild Rice Strawberries Sunflower
OLD WORLD Horses Camels Chickens – Eggs Cows – Milk, Cheese Goats – Milk, Cheese Pigs Sheep Geese Cats (Domestic) Donkey Honey Bee NEW WORLD Alpacas Llamas Guinea Pigs Turkeys Minks
OLD WORLD Plague Chicken Pox Cholera Influenza Malaria Measles Smallpox Typhoid Scarlet Fever Leprosy Common Cold NEW WORLD Syphilis Yaws
To Europe Maize (Corn) Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Tomatoes Turkeys Sugarcane, Cacao, & Tobacco – processed & sent back to Europe from the Americas
To the Americas Horse Cattle/Cows Sugarcane, Coffee Pigs Chickens Wheat Goats & Sheep All Old World Diseases Honey Bees Citrus Fruits Stone Fruits
To Africa & Asia Peanuts Cassava (Manioc/Yucca) Sweet Potatoes Chili & Paprika Maize (Corn) Vanilla Cacao Rubber
Exchange of Food Sources – New Growing Regions for Crops Increase in Human Population from new crops/goods World Connections Flourish People Migrate to Different Continents Cultures Intermingle/Spread Across the World Trade Flourishes – New goods & routes
Many die from the transmission of new diseases, mainly Native Americans Opens up the world to slavery, the slave trade takes off after the start of this exchange Stability on one crop: ex: the Potato and the Irish Potato Famine
For facts and further information on the Columbian Exchange we will visit: