The Columbian Exchange. What is it, what caused it, and what effects did it have? Well, if you stick with me through these videos, you'll know the answer to all three.
So if you're ready to get them brain cows milked... Let's get to it. And as is our custom, let's begin with the definition.
The Columbian Exchange refers to the transfer of new diseases, food, plants, people, and animals between the eastern and western hemispheres. And if you're like, so what? Hemispheres, exchange stuff, what's the big deal?
Well, I'll tell you what the big deal is, my lethargic pupil. The Columbian Exchange was the occasion for a massive change in world history, and I'm going to tell you why. But first, let me help you understand the causes of this exchange of diseases and food and all the rest. I mentioned in the last video that European states were going bonkers sponsoring sea-based explorations to find water routes to the East Indies so that they could get their hands on all those tasty spices that made their hearts thump real fast.
And as soon as Spain sent Christopher Columbus westward across the Atlantic and he ended up running into two giant honking hitherto unknown continents, contact was made. And so it was because of this momentous contact between the New World and the Old World that the Columbian Exchange began to occur. And once it began the effects were, uh, considerable.
And by the way, let me just mention that if you want to exchange your AP World History stress for confidence, exchange, I see what you did there, then it might behoove you to check out my AP World History Heimler Review Guide, which has everything you need to get an A in your class and a 5 on your exam in May. And you can find that in the link in the description. So the first effect of the Columbian Exchange was the transfer of disease.
And look, because everyone in Afro-Eurasia had been connected and trading and exposed to each other's nasty germs for many centuries, they had all developed immunities to all those cooties. But these people over here, not so much. When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they brought disease.
disease vectors with them, which is a fancy schmancy way of saying rats and mosquitoes. Because the indigenous peoples in the Americas had never been in contact with these kinds of diseases, they ended up devastating the population, and I'll give you three examples. First was malaria, which was carried by mosquitoes, which were introduced to the Americas by enslaved Africans who were transported for plantation work, and that disease killed millions of indigenous Americans. Second was the measles, which was highly contagious and spread rapidly in densely populated areas, also killing millions. And third, and most devastating of all, was the introduction of smallpox.
It was once introduced in 1518 and 1518, and it was the first of its kind to be used in it spread through Mexico and Central America and then down into South America where it killed something like half the population in those places and in some areas up to 90% of the people died. And this is why, not surprisingly, indigenous Americans refer to that event as the Great Dying. Now it's debated whether indigenous Americans introduced any diseases to Europeans, so I'll just leave that to the side. And it's also debated whether Europeans intentionally introduced these diseases to the indigenous populations in order to make them easier to conquer.
And there's not much evidence on that either. But regardless, the fact that these diseases were introduced and they had such devastating effects on the devastating demographic consequences made the eventual European takeover of the Americas much more achievable. Okay, now let's talk about the plants and food that were introduced to both hemispheres as a result of the Columbian Exchange, and it's helpful if you know a couple of examples.
So European settlers brought wheat and grapes and olives with them, which were staple foods of European diets. But they also brought Asian and African foods, like bananas and sugar. And while indigenous Americans mostly maintained their traditional diets, they slowly adopted some of these new foods, which diversified their diets and therefore increased their lifespans. And this was the other way New World crops were transformed. transferred to Europe, including maize and potatoes and manioc.
And those new foods had a similar effect in Europe after 1700, which is to say they diversified their diets and led to a healthier population, which led to a significant population growth because of longer lifespans. Additionally, some of these crops like maize were introduced to Africa and Asia, which is, you know, amazing. I think I've recycled that joke like 17 times by now, but hey, still funny.
Now some of these New World foods were grown as cash crops on European-controlled plantations in the Americas. Now by definition, cash cropping is a method of agriculture in which food is grown primarily for for export to other places. And I won't get too far into the weeds here since we're going to talk about that in later videos, but Europeans setting up colonies in the Americas found out quick fast and in a hurry that they were going to get stupid rich through agriculture in the New World.
And the way they did that was by planting, usually single crops on massive plantations that were worked by coerced laborers, which is to say they didn't have any choice in the matter. Anyway, an example of this arrangement was a large-scale operation growing sugarcane in Caribbean colonies. Enslaved Africans mainly did the intensive and exhausting labor and then the sugar was exported to markets in Europe and the Middle East.
Anyway, speaking of enslaved Africans, I should also mention that they brought new food to the Americas as well, including okra and rice. And finally, let's talk about the animals that were exchanged. And although animals went both ways, arguably it was the animals that Europeans introduced to the Americas that had the biggest effect.
Europeans brought domesticated animals like pigs and sheep and cattle. And as it turns out, since those were entirely new animals to this side of the world, they had no natural predators, and so they multiplied like mad and created the foundation for future ranching economies. But on the downside, all these new animals also caused some dire environmental consequences that put significant strains on indigenous farmers. For example, sheep be eating grass, baby.
You cannot stop a sheep from eating grass. And since they eat it so close to the ground, large patches of grass started resembling not so much a verdant green pasture but more of an agricultural equivalent to my shiny bald head. And that meant erosion became a significant problem.
But there was one domesticated animal Europeans introduced to the Americas that was real nice, and that was the horse. This animal fundamentally changed the society of several indigenous peoples in North America by allowing it to more effectively hunt large herds of buffalo, which was a staple for the food item for them. Alright, click here to keep reviewing for Unit 4, and click here to grab my AP World Heimler Review Guide which has everything you need to get an A in your class and a 5 on your exam in May.
Thanks for hanging out with me, and I'll catch you on the flip-flop. Heimler out.