The Columbian Exchange is not an event - it really is a route, more or less. This is like the "Top 5 Most Important Things To Ever Happened" -- it's that important to remember and BONUS - it's not super complicated to understand. Basically, diseases and livestock to the Americas and TONS of food and medicine go to Afro-Eurasia and Europe when they needed it most (populations were increasing finally after the Black Death).

There are a few maps below to help you remember what was exchanged.

For this you should be able to:

(ENV) Explain the causes of the Columbian Exchange and its effects on the Eastern AND Western Hemispheres.

• The new connections between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres resulted in the exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases, known as the Columbian Exchange.

• European colonization of the Americas led to the unintentional transfer of disease vectors, including mosquitoes and rats, and the spread of diseases that were endemic in the Eastern Hemisphere, including smallpox, measles, and malaria. Some of these diseases substantially reduced the indigenous populations, with catastrophic effects in many areas.

• American foods became staple crops in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Cash crops were grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor and were exported mostly to Europe and the Middle East.

• Afro-Eurasian fruit trees, grains, sugar, and domesticated animals were brought by Europeans to the Americas, while other foods were brought by African slaves

• Domesticated animals:

  • Horses

  • Pigs

  • Cattle

• Foods brought by African slaves:

  • Okra

  • Rice

• Populations in Afro-Eurasia benefitted nutritionally from the increased diversity of American food crops.