The Columbian Exchange

Beginning of the World Economy

Themes in the Video

• What are the major themes of the video The Columbian Exchange?– the significance of the seemingly insignificant things

exchanged

– the significance of the movements of people (not as conquistadores) occasioned by the discovery and colonization of the New World

– the development of whole cultures as the outcome of the exchange of flora and fauna from one hemisphere to another

What Was Exchanged?Old World to America America to Old World

Diseases smallpox, measles, influenza, diphtheria, whooping cough

syphilis (a.k.a. "the pox")

Animals horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens

 

Crops wheat, vines, citrus, other fruits

maize, potatoes (white and sweet), beans, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, manioc, papayas, guavas, avocados, pineapples, cacao, tobacco

People military, businessmen, poor immigrants, slaves

 

Other religion silver and gold

The Exchange of Diseases• the character of epidemics

– the need for concentrations of people– how gene pools develop with resistence to strains of

diseases

• the apparent absence of epidemic diseases in the New World prior to 1492– dense populations in valley of Mexico and in Peruvian

highlands– close to the margin, but not yet at it?

• the emergence of several "childhood" diseases in the New World shortly after the arrival of the Spanish

The Demographic Collapse

• Some contending estimates:– http://www.hist.umn.edu/~rmccaa/vircatas

/virtab3.htm

Contending Views of Demographic Collapse

The Demographic Collapse

• http://www.hist.umn.edu/~rmccaa/vircatas/virtab3.htm

• http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/PSci/Inst21/mexico_population.htm

• Consequences:– Loss of cultural confidence– http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/PSci/Inst21/azt

ec_old_men.htm

Varieties of Old and New World Staples

(millions of calories per hectare)

Chief American Crops Chief Old World Crops

Maize 7.3 Rice 7.3

Potatoes 7.5 Wheat 4.2

Sweet Potatoes/

Yams

7.1 Barley 5.1

Manioc/Cassava 9.9 Oats 5.5

Growth of World Population1650 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950

Africa 100 95 90 95 120 198Asia (excl. Russia/USSR)

327 475 597 741 915 1,320

Latin America 12 11 19 33 63 162North America 1 1 6 26 81 168Europe (incl. Russia/USSR)

103 144 192 274 423 593

Oceania 2 2 2 2 6 13Total 545 728 906 1,171 1,608 2,454

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

1650 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950

Growth of World Population

Africa Asia (excl. Russia/USSR) Latin America North America Europe (incl. Russia/USSR) Oceania

Example: Cattle Ranching

The Potato and Population Growth in Ireland

Year Millions Year Millions

1712 2.8 1781 4.0

1718 2.9 1785 4.0

1725 3.0 1788 4.4

1732 3.0 1791 4.8

1754 3.2 1821 6.8

1772 3.6 1831 7.8

1777 3.7 1841 8.2