The Columbian Exchange and
Global Trade
Chapter 4
Section 4
I. The Columbian Exchange
A. Columbian Exchange
• 1. Columbian Exchange-was the global transfer of foods,
plants, animals during the colonization of the Americas
A. Columbian Exchange
• 2. New plants were tomatoes, squash, pineapples, tobacco,
corn, potatoes and cacao beans (for chocolate)
• 3. An important animal was the turkey
A. Columbian Exchange
• 4. The introduction of the
white potato and the most
important food to come
from the Americas.
• “sweet potato & white
potato did more for the
Irish and the Chinese than
the deeds of a 100 kings”
II. Global Trade
A. Rise of Capitalism
• 1. The new wealth created
from the resources of the
Americas and trading
practices dramatically
changed the economic
atmosphere of Europe
A. Rise of Capitalism
• 2. Capitalism is an economic system based on
private ownership and the investment of
resources such as money for profit
A. Rise of Capitalism
• 3. Not only governments but merchants began
to obtain great wealth which allowed them to
invest into other businesses building greater
financial power
A. Rise of Capitalism
• 4. As a result people
had more money and
therefore demanded
more goods. Since
the supply of goods
was less than the
demands prices
skyrocketed
II. Global Trade
B. Joint Stock Companies
• 1. Joint-stock companies-this is when investors
buy shares of stock in a company; it involved a
number of people combining wealth for a
common purpose
B. Joint Stock Companies
• 2. This allowed investors to share the loss or
gains for any colony that they invested in.
III. The Growth of Mercantilism
A. Balance of Trade
• 1. Mercantilism-this
held that a country’s
power depended
mainly on its wealth.
This wealth allowed
countries to build
strong navies and
purchase vital goods
A. Balance of Trade
• 2. Power could be obtained in 2 ways- 1.
obtain as much gold & silver as possible & 2.
establish a favorable balance of trademeaning selling more goods than it bought
A. Balance of Trade
• 3. Main goal of mercantilism
was to become self-sufficient
and not depend on other
countries for their goods-this
is why colonization was so
important