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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