CONTENT STATEMENT
- The Columbian exchange (i.e., the exchange of fauna, flora and pathogens) among previously unconnected parts of the world reshaped societies in ways still evident today.
CONTENT ELABORATION
The Columbian exchange had a global impact culturally and biologically. The arrival of Columbus in the Americas set in motion the exchange of animals, plants and diseases between Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world. Europeans introduced communicable diseases that ravaged the American Indian population. Diseases were also carried back to Europe, but with a less devastating impact than those brought to the Americas. The cultures in both continents adapted to these exchanges. The Columbian exchange impacted societies in ways still evident today.
Specific examples of the Columbian exchange include:
animals native to Europe: horses, pigs, sheep, cattle, and honeybees;
animals native to the Americas: turkeys;
crops imported to the Americas: bananas, beans, citrus fruits, coffee, grapes, olives, rice, and sugar cane;
crops exported from the Americas: cacao beans, maize/corn, potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, pumpkins, peppers, and tobacco; and
communicable diseases: measles, small pox.
EXPECTATIONS FOR LEARNING
Explain how the Columbian exchange reshaped previously unconnected societies in ways still evident today.