Columbian Exchange

Key Figures

Within decades of Columbus’ voyages, the trans Atlantic slave trade had begun and hundreds of thousands of native Americans died of disease brought to America by Europeans and Africans.

Spanish- the early Spanish conquistadors brought gun powder and a horse to America as well as the Christian Catholic church. They also brought with them priests to establish missions such as St. Augustine, San Diego, and San Antonio. The Spanish also brought over slaves to work on sugar plantations.

America- provided new food such as the potato, corn, tomato, peppers, pumpkin, squash, pineapples, cacao beans (for chocolate) and the sweet potato. They also provided turkeys and tobacco, both an American product.

Europe- Europe introduced America to things such as livestock (cattle, pigs, and sheep as well as grains and wheat.)

Africa- Africans introduced the onion, citrus fruits, bananas, coffee, beans, olives, grapes, rice, and sugar cane.

Christopher Columbus- Columbus’s first voyage brought upon a large scale of contact between the old and new world which resulted in this ecological revolution: The Colombian Exchange.

Marco Polo- Polo influenced Christopher Columbus.


The Colombian Exchange has been one of the most significant events in the history of the world ecologically, agriculturally, and culturally. It was a widespread exchange of plants, animals, foods, human populations (slaves), and communicable diseases. There were other goods exchanged between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. It began the revolution in America and in Europe. In 1492 Christopher Columbus lead the first voyage which launched an era of large-scale contact between the the old and new world. It also resulted in the ecological revolution which is where "Colombian" came from the Colombian Exchange.

When Colombus arrived in America for the first time, a chain of events began that would change the environment of the New World, as well as the lifestyles of the cultures. The European explorers who poured into America during the years to follow brought many other creatures with them: microbes, horses, plants, and many more. These organisms had lots of effect on the explorers themselves in changing the New World forever. Diseases such as smallpox destroyed the Indian populations, and European "weeds" and livestock permanently changed the environment for the worse. The arival of new technologies in America also greatly changed the Indian way of life. Tribes that aquired guns had an advantage over the ones that did not, and the balance of power within North American Indian tribes changed big time in the first few centuries after the first Europeans arrived. Europeans also brought new things back across the Atlantic with them.

The Colombian Exchange is the interchange of animals, foods, and diseases between the old and new world. It started when the Europeans first got to North America in 1492. They found plants such as potatoes, beans, squash, and corn. They introduced these new plants to Europe. To North America Europeans introduced crops like wheat, rice, bananas, sugar, and wine grapes. Europeans also brought a lot of animals to North America such as horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, and fowl. Disease was another part of the Columbian Exchange. When Europeans came to North America, they brought diseases such as smallpox and measles. The Indians were not prepared, for they lacked the proper immunities and these viruses proves very deadly often wiping out over half of entire tribes. On the flipside Europeans were infected with the disease Syphilis. So the Colombian Exchange really shook up all the cultures.

The Colombian Exchange affected America in many different ways. This exchange of plants and animals transformed European, American, African, and Asian ways of life. We now grow many of the plants imported in America such as oranges in Florida, pineapples in Hawaii, even the dandelion was brought to America by the Europeans. A big part of the exchange is how it opened the area plants could be grown in. Without the exchange we would not have all the horse, or the different types of plants and foods. The exchange gave us all types of new breeds of animals. Also the exchange brought diseases over to the new world. These diseases were most most deadly to the Native Americans. It was more detrimental than any other war. The Indians died off so fast because their bodies were not prepared for the diseases. Without the diseases killing the Indians, there would have been an even bigger problem for the settlers. Then the animals like the horses, the cattle, and the swine. These animals are big parts of America now. Texas is huge in cattle production. So who knows if the Exchange was good or bad.

So you have to ask yourself, was the Colombian Exchange good or bad? It had its downsides, such as all the Indians dying and the fact that those diseases are still around today, but over all it did more for the good. Without horses and a lot of the other animals, America would be a lot different. Cattle and pigs are still used today as major sources of sustenance, especially in the United States, though like the horse, are also seen as pets for personal companionship, animal shows and competitions. These animals help the economy and are a good way to make a living. Also it gave us all tpes of different foods and plants. Thanks to the Exchange we now grow foreign plants in America.

The Columbian Exchange itself brought many new things to both the new and old worlds. This time and event in history has influences both sides in immeasurable ways. Yet there are lessons still to be learned from this. Science must continually find ways to prevent such epidemics as occurred during the Colombian Exchange. Also, governments need to be looking for ways to control and extinguish such problems as drug and human trafficking, similar to how slaves were captured and sold in those days. Finally, we must recognize that our way of life- food, animals, resources, etc.- would be different without such an exchange of cultures. Little do we know that the cultural exchanges that are being made daily will effect the lives of future generations to come; just as I am sure that Christopher Columbus had little idea how his discovery and therefore exchange would effect us today, over a half a century later.