The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian exchange is a worldwide transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas. It began in 1492 with Columbus's first voyage to the Americas. The exchange continued with many other explorers and colonists, as well as with modern transport technologies.

The Old World (Europe, Asia, and Africa) was separated from the New World by continental drift millions of years ago. The separation spawned divergent evolution, which has led to divergent ecosystems and animal species. The Columbian exchange, though a mere reversal of this long-standing trend, re-established connections between the two continents by bringing plant, animal, and disease species from the Old World to the New.

This was a significant change in human history, as it introduced new plants and animals to the Old World for the first time. The spread of crops like corn, potatoes, and cassava transformed the diets of people in Europe, Asia, and Africa. These foods revolutionized cuisines and, ultimately, shaped the cultural lives of people everywhere.

In the Old World, domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep, and pigs changed nutrition, cultures, and ecosystems. The introduction of cattle, for example, sparked the development of ranching economies in North and South America and Mexico. Cattle, pigs, and goats provided food, hides, and tallow for Native Americans who were no longer dependent on plants for their food needs.

Another gift from the New World that fueled European empire was rubber, a material found naturally in Central and South America but also in West-Central Africa. After 1770, Europeans began to use rubber to make shoes, boots, tents, and other goods. It also led to the production of tires for bicycles and automobiles.

A third gift from the New World was quinine, a natural medicine used to treat malaria and other infections. Quinine cured parasites in the skin, but it could also cause cancer and other serious diseases.

One of the most devastating impacts of the Columbian exchange was the transfer of disease to the New World. European explorers brought deadly germs such as smallpox, measles, mumps, whooping cough, chickenpox, and typhus to the Americas. These diseases decimated some communities and destroyed others completely.

In return, the Old World got syphilis, which is an especially lethal sexually transmitted disease. The syphilis epidemic that erupted in Europe only a few years after Columbus' first voyage was likely caused by the bacteria subspecies of American yaws that had mutated into the deadly disease in Europe’s cooler climate.

The Columbian exchange included the importation of many Old World crops, such as sugar and coffee, that were not indigenous to America. These were well-suited for the soils of the Americas and led to a dramatic increase in slave production in both North and South America.

In addition, the Columbian exchange introduced a wealth of New World products into Europe, including silver, which altered Europe's economy. The increased circulation of silver permitted the Catholic Church to underwrite the Protestant Reformation and to support astronomical discoveries. Other aspects of the Columbian exchange, such as more detailed maps, a greater circulation of news, the printing press, and improved navigational devices, helped launch a golden age in literature and art in Europe.

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