The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange was a widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations (including slaves), communicable disease, technology and ideas between the American and Afro-Eurasian hemispheres following the voyage to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492.[1]:163 The term was coined in 1972 by Alfred W. Crosby, a historian at the University of Texas at Austin, in his eponymous work of environmental history.[2][3]:27 The contact between the two areas circulated a wide variety of new crops and livestock which supported increases in population in both hemispheres. Explorers returned to Europe with maize, potatoes, and tomatoes, which became very important crops in Europe by the 18th century. Similarly, Europeans introduced manioc and peanut to tropical Asia and West Africa, where they flourished and supported growth in populations on soils that otherwise would not produce large yields.Before 1000 AD, potatoes were not grown outside of South America. By the 1840s, Ireland was so dependent on the potato that a diseased crop led to the devastating Great Famine.[4] Since being introduced by 16th-century Portuguese traders, who brought them from the Americas,[5] maize and manioc replaced traditional African crops as the continent 's most important staple food crops.[6] 16th-century Spanish colonizers introduced new staple crops to Asia from the Americas, including maize and sweet potatoes, contributed to the population growth in Asia.[7] European exploration of tropical areas was aided by the New World discovery of quinine, the first effective treatment for malaria.[1]:164

One of the first European exports, the horse, changed the lives of many Native American tribes on the Great Plains, allowing them to shift to a nomadic lifestyle based on hunting bison on horseback.[8] Tomato sauce, made from New World tomatoes, became an Italian trademark and tomatoes were widely used in France, while coffee from Africa and sugar cane from Asia became the main

References: ^ Jump up to: a b c d Nunn, Nathan; Qian, Nancy (2010). "The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas". Journal of Economic Perspectives 24 (2): 163–188. doi:10.1257/jep.24.2.163. JSTOR 25703506. Jump up ^ Crosby, Alfred W. The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1972. Jump up ^ "Super-Sized Cassava Plants May Help Fight Hunger In Africa", The Ohio State University Jump up ^ "Maize Streak Virus-Resistant Transgenic Maize: an African solution to an African Problem", Scitizen, August 7, 2007 Jump up ^ Simberloff, Daniel (2000). "Introduced Species: The Threat to Biodiversity & What Can Be Done". American Institute of Biological Sciences: Bringing biology to informed decision making. Jump up ^ Fernández Pérez, Joaquin and Ignacio González Tascón (eds.) (1991). La agricultura viajera. Barcelona, Spain: Lunwerg Editores, S. A. Jump up ^ Elusive Lager Yeast Found in Patagonia, Discovery News, Aug 23, 2011 External links New study blames Columbus for syphilis spread from Reuters Jan 15, 2008 Foods that Changed the World