Columbian Exchange
Unit 4: c. 1450-1750
Main Ideas:
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Disease: Europeans unintentionally brought deadly diseases to Americas → Killed many Native Americans
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Plants: American food crops became staples in Afro-Eurasia → Increased Afro-Eurasian population
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Animals: Europeans brought domesticated animals (horses, pigs, cattle) to Americas → Horses made transportation easier
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People: Lots of Europeans (& Africans) migrated to Americas → Allowed Europeans to dominate Americas
Disease
Europeans Accidentally Brought Diseases to Americas → Killed Most Native Americans
Key Ideas:
- European diseases were unintentionally brought to the Americas, which killed many Native Americans (who had no immunity to them)
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Diseases like smallpox, whooping cough, and flu traveled with Europeans & decimated Native American populations
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This made it easier for Europeans to conquer the Americas
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Plants
American Food Crops Became Staples in Afro-Eurasia → Population Growth
Key Ideas:
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Europeans brought American food crops (food crops only grown in Americas) to Europe, which caused significant population growth in Afro-Eurasia
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These included the potato, squash, beans, corn, tomato, etc.
- Potatoes were very rich in nutrients → Became very common in Afro-Eurasia (especially Ireland)
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Potatoes, a key staple in Afro-Eurasia, originating in the Americas
A corn field in the US. Corn was one of the products of the Columbian Exchange
Animals
Europeans Brought Domesticated Animals to Americas → Horses Made Travel Easier
Key Ideas:
- Europeans brought domesticated animals (pig, cow, sheep, etc.) to the Americas
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Europeans brought horses, and they could ride on the horses to move much faster than the Native Americans → Easier to conquer the Americas
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Other domesticated animals transformed agricultural practices in the Americas by making the Americas more reliant on meat domestication
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People
Many Afro-Eurasians Migrated to Americas → Easier for Europeans to Dominate Americas
Key Ideas:
- A lot of Europeans migrated to the Americas, and they forced enslaved Africans to do the same → Europeans dominated the Americas
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Millions of Europeans and Enslaved Africans migrated to the Americas
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Europeans quickly displaced the local indigenous American population → Established European dominance of the Americas
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