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The Columbian Exchange
E. Impact of contact--the Columbian Exchange—the exchange of microbes,
plants, and animals between the New World and the Old. This was one of the
most significant re-orderings of two worlds in all of human history
1. Major impact: de-population though disease
a. Indians had no immunities to epidemic diseases
this was because diseases among their population had died off in the
generations that they spent in the Artic
this was also because new epidemic diseases of Europe had evolved
after the Indians had left--you don't have to memorize these diseases but
they were: smallpox, typhus, diphtheria, plague, malaria, yellow fever,
cholera, and influenza
b. the New World did have some diseases--venereal disease was the only
disease to go to Europe from the New World (perhaps it was just desserts
for the raping of Indian women)
c. Disease was a terrible horror to Native peoples who were completely
unaware what was happening to them--smallpox was the worst--it turns
people into mass of rotting flesh and badly scars the survivors
both Indians and Europeans saw disease as divine--Christians seeing
God's judgment on heathens,
while Indians blamed sorcery, which led many to discredit their Indian
shamen (holy men and women) who couldn't fight it
d. Population losses due to disease were huge-about 50-55 million
aboriginal inhabitants in both Americas; some believe that the indigenous
population fell by about 90%
2. Flora: the exchange of plants also had a huge effect
a. to the old world from new: corn, beans, squash, potatoes,
cassava, coco, tobacco
b. except for tobacco, the diets of Europeans were greatly
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The Columbian Exchange
enriched by these plants
c. this improved diet led to tremendous a population boom in
17th C Europe
d. this population boom also contributed to shortages in
food, clothes, and housing, triggering higher prices for
everything, which also pushed immigration
3. Fauna: the exchange of animals
a. to the New World from the old: livestock, especially cattle and
horses
b. the colonists' roaming livestock caused conflict with Indians,
for the animals they ate their food and trampled their gardens
c. when Indians killed these livestock, Europeans used it as an
excuse to wage war against them
d. Still, Indians also made good use of horses (especially on the
Plains) and sheep (especially in the southwest)
4. The political legacy in Europe: gold & silver plundered from the Aztec
and Inca empires led to terrible inflation
a. but it also made Phillip II of Spain the most powerful ruler in
Europe
b. and it set off rivalries between European powers that fuelled the
conquest of New World
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