The Columbian Exchange

1
The Columbian Exchange
2
500 Years Later

• In 1992 a series of conferences were held where
  the 500th anniversary of Columbus arrival in the
  new world was discussed. After much
  deliberation 5 items were chosen as the most
  economically and culturally significant
  components in the exchange corn, potato, horse,
  disease, and sugar

3
Corn (maize)

• A grass first domesticated in northern Mexico
  between 5 and 7 thousand years ago
• Has spread to every part of the globe and grows
  well in a wide variety of climates

4
Impact

• Maize is used as both human and animal food
• Produces a lot of protein per acre
• Fills a nutritional need in all diets where it is
  found
• Many believe the sharp increase in European
  population in the 17th and 18th centuries is
  attributable to maize

5
Potato

• An edible tuber first domesticated in the Andes
  Mts 10,000 years ago
• They were able to withstand the cold temperatures
  at the high altitudes

6
Impact

• They were among several tuber varieties that were
  used as food
• They grew well in areas where the climate was
  marginal for other crops
• They provided cheap calories for the emerging
  working classes in Europe as the industrial
  revolution took hold

7
Horses

• Horses had evolved in North America and migrated
  to other parts of the world but died out here
• The Spaniards will reintroduce the species to its
  original habitat

8
Impact

• Horses are domesticated about 6,000 years ago in
  southern Russia
• They will be used as transportation, draft
  animals, and war and hunting platforms
• The Native Americans displaced from their Eastern
  woodlands adopted the horse and transformed
  themselves into plains cultures based on the
  buffalo

9
The Secret Weapon

• Smallpox was the captain of the men of death in
  that war, Typhus Fever the first lieutenant, and
  Measles the second lieutenant. More terrible than
  the conquistadores on horseback, more deadly than
  sword and gunpowder.

10
Disease

• The most negative component of the exchange
• Europeans did not understand what they were doing
  at first but later used disease as a weapon

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Impact

• Native populations had no resistance to the
  infectious diseases carried by the Europeans
• 80 to 90 of Native Americans killed (?)
• Mostly from very common ailments such as the
  measles and influenza
• While Native American populations are rising it
  nearly wiped them out at the time

12
Sugar

• Sugarcane is our most important source of sucrose
• There are other sources as well
• First domesticated in New Guinea 10,000 years ago
  and spread worldwide

13
Impact

• Sugarcane was introduced into the Caribbean and
  both North and South America very early on
• The Portuguese already had Sugar plantations on
  their Atlantic islands
• The Native Americans died in such large numbers
  on these new plantations that black slaves had to
  be imported from Africa
• Europe had a tremendous sweet tooth and sugar was
  highly profitable

14
The Atlantic Slave Trade
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Forced Migration

• The plantations of the Americas needed a constant
  supply of laborers due to the high mortality rate
• African slave traders supplied the need
• European manufactured goods were exchanged for
  the slaves

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Triangular Trade

• Europe, Africa, and the Americas were the three
  legs
• Europe supplied manufactured goods
• Africa supplied the slaves
• America supplied the raw materials - sugar

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The Middle Passage

• The most brutal part of the journey
• Large numbers of slaves were packed in tight
  quarters
• The spread of disease was always a threat
• Large numbers died enroute

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The Numbers

• It is estimated that over 10 million slaves were
  exported from Africa
• Mortality rates on the Middle Passage averaged
  about 13
• Most of the slaves went to Brazil and the
  Caribbean
• Less than 5 went to North America

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The End of the Slave Trade

• The slave trade was outlawed in Great Britain in
  1807
• Americans follow suit
• British naval vessels patrol the coast of West
  Africa but the lucrative trade continued