Week 9: The Columbian Exchange

Question 1

What is the Columbian Exchange?

Answer 1

Exchange of culture and biological organisms between new world and old world after 1492

Question 2

What disease exchange occured?

Answer 2

Question 3

What livestock exchange occured?

Answer 3

Question 4

What were the original crops of the Americas?

Answer 4

Question 5

Cultural food adaptations as a result of Columbian exchange?

Answer 5

Also ‘Italian’ tomato sauce

• Neapolitan pizza made with San Marzano tomatoes

Question 6

Significant American Crops

Answer 6

• Became important crops of the old world as traders retuned with these crops by 18th century
• Also introduced things like peanut to soil of west Africa where they flourished
• Plants from new world now constitute 60% of worlds crops

Question 7

What term do we use in Canada for Native Americans?

Answer 7

• First Nations
• Inuit
• Metis

Question 8

What was the Columbian Exchange?

Answer 8

A process of transferring plants animals microbes and people across Atlantic in both directions. Not just trading but transplanting. Some exchanges were intentional and some unintentional. Tremendous environmental transformation with consequences on both ends

Question 9

Which cash crops were brought from Europe to the new world?

Answer 9

Sugar, grapes for wine, coffee - important food so they could grow sugar with the land because it grew so well

Question 10

Which calorically dense plants were transferred from the new world to the old world?

Answer 10

Tomatoes, corn , potatoes, sweet potatoes, kasava - if grew field of potatoes instead of wheat could feed three times as many people so caused increase in population in Europe and Africa (Africa manioc was grown)

Question 11

What was the result in Europe and Africa of switching to calorically dense New World crops?

Answer 11

increased populations

Question 12

Which European animals were brought to the New World?

Answer 12

Cattle, sheep pigs and horses with mixed results. Horses were tremendous technology and greatly adapted in many areas. Revolutionized ability to hunt. Pigs weren’t great because they roamed freely and ate everything include native crops and they multiplied quickly and became more of a pest.

Question 13

Before the arrival of Europeans, did the Indigenous peoples have zoonotic diseases? Why or why not?

Answer 13

Transfer of diseases came small pox, measles, whooping cough

Had little immunity and estimated within 100 years of landing 90% of all people living in americas died of disease. Demographic catastrophe. Most effected would not have interacted with European they just had trade networks that spread diseases through NA. Greater population density in Europe and Africa and lived closer together so this give diseases more opportunity and to evolve. Europeans also lived close to animals which can pass on diseases. Native Americans didn’t really have population density and really only domesticated dogs so did not have diseases that were as vicious

Question 14

Exchange of people

Answer 14

Exchange of people: Native American population struggled from outbreak of disease. Europeans hope to use them as labour force but they didn’t really survive and so they use that labour force instead from Africa against will. Very quickly majority of population in Caribbean because African decent. BUt population of Africans stayed steady since a lot of their foods were also brought over. Worries of overpopulation of Europe so started sending people over to colonies. Overall benefited Europe at the expense of native americans and Africans