Page 2 - SSW 19: The Columbian Exchange

Week 19 of 32 • Page 3
Week 19 of 32 • Page 3
W eek 19 of 32 • P age 3
Plants Animals

Many plants from the Americas also had a big impact on Europe, crops in Jamestown Colony. Tobacco became a massive In the Americas, people domesticated very few animals. horses for transportation and work. Horses also became a
Africa, and Asia. American plants, such as potatoes, tomatoes, cash crop industry as a result. Llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs were tamed and used for
peanuts, tobacco, beans, cacao, and corn, changed how people ate. Cacao was another plant that explorers valuable trade resource. Horses changed the way tribes like
In Europe, people did not eat corn; it was mainly grown to brought back home with them. Cacao was work and food. However, Europeans, Asians, and Africans the Sioux and the Comanche hunted and traveled. Riding
feed livestock. Potatoes, however, became a very popular crop for mixed with water by native peoples to make domesticated many animals. Domesticated animals like horses was a much faster form of transportation than
people. Potatoes can grow in all kinds of soil, and they are also full a bitter drink. Europeans added sugar and horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs changed economic life in the following bison herds on foot. Descendants of these horses
of vitamins and nutrients. Potatoes helped feed Europe’s population vanilla to it, making it into a sweet food. That Americas. These farm animals became new food sources. are still found on the East Coast and in the western lands of
better than other crops that had been grown previously, which led is what we call chocolate today. Pigs eat just about anything and reproduce quickly, which the United States.
to better health and an increase in population. Potatoes also store Another substance that has made them a great resource for meat in the Americas.

well, and sailors could take potatoes on their ships. The potatoes’ its origins in American plants is Cattle were used to plow fields and also provided meat and New animals also caused problems, however. The
vitamins would prevent them from rubber. The rubber tree was native dairy products. introduction of certain domesticated animals in the
getting scurvy. to Mesoamerica; its sap has latex and Horses had existed in the Americas in ancient times, Americas caused an imbalance in the ecosystem. Pigs were
Tobacco was first brought back to rubber in it. The Olmec, the Maya, and the but by the medieval and early modern eras, they had gone turned loose to forage in the forests. The pigs multiplied

Europe by the Spanish. The Spanish Aztec used the sap to create rubber balls for extinct. When they were reintroduced, horses quickly until there were so many that they depleted the vegetation.
Tobacco leaves experimented with the plant the ball game that they played. The sap was also became popular among the Indigenous people of the Other animals that depended on the same vegetation were
until they produced a variety used to make things like tile waterproof. Columbus
of it that had a much better Americas, who used them in their everyday lives. They used left with nothing to eat.

flavor than the original. brought rubber to Spain, and eventually, it became
The Spanish didn’t share an important cash crop.
their secret recipe with The people of the Americas were also introduced A herd of
the rest of Europe, to new crops and plants. European settlers brought cows in Brazil
which created a sugarcane, olives, citrus, bananas, grapes, wheat,
monopoly on their cotton, and even honeybees with them to the Americas.
tobacco. However, Several of the plants introduced to the Americas grew well
the English were in the soils and climates there. In particular, sugarcane,
eventually able wheat, and cotton did very well in warmer climates.
to obtain some Europeans began growing them on large plantations,
Spanish tobacco which required them to clear large pieces of land.
seeds and plant This destroyed local vegetation, and it disrupted the
their own natural habitats of local wildlife.

Donkeys and Horses Used to Transport Equipment and
Cotton A llama Supplies in the Peruvian Andes, Cordillera Huayhuash
plant Photo courtesy of Getty Images
A pig

Cacao pod

Guinea pigs

Technology Ideas

After new animals were brought to the Americas, people peoples, especially in Like the Europeans, the people of the Americas had vibrant the Indigenous peoples. Some native peoples converted to
adopted new ways of doing work. Although Native Peoples of Mexico. societies and extensive trade routes. They had art, history, Christianity willingly, but many others resisted. They didn’t
the Americas farmed and grew crops, they did not practice Another technology and protection for their communities. They had their own want to give up their beliefs and their ways of life. This often

large-scale agriculture the way Europeans did. Europeans Europeans brought with governments and religions. Tolerance between the Native led to conflict and fighting between the two groups.
brought new technologies with them, such as the metal them were tools and American and European cultures could have expanded the There were, however, some Indigenous ideas that
plow, which was pulled by a horse, ox, or cow. This made it utensils made of metal. positive exchanges. However, the Europeans were not often Europeans used or even exploited. For example, quinine was a
easier to plow fields quickly. Indigenous peoples could plant Native Peoples used stone tolerant of the differences they encountered. They believed the type of medicine created by the people of the Inca Empire. It

more crops and bring in bigger harvests. or flint to make their peoples of the Americas were inferior because their ways were was made from the bark of the cinchona tree. This medicine

could actually be used to combat malaria, a disease prevalent
different. Intolerance caused conflict and the captivity and

Europeans used horses, cattle, and oxen to plow fields, weapons and tools. Metal deaths of many Native Peoples. in Africa. Another example from the Inca is the mit’a system.
pull wagons, and transport people. Over time, the Native axes, swords, hammers, The Native Peoples of the Americas used the natural This was a labor tax system created and used by the Inca
Peoples of the Americas began to use these animals for the and eating utensils like resources in their environment to build homes and make government. When the conquistadors took over the Inca
same purposes. They developed a special connection with forks and knives became clothing and tools. The type of clothing, homes, and tools they Empire, they used this labor system to force native people to
horses in particular. Europeans also introduced ways to use popular trade items. made were different from the Europeans. Europeans believed work in Spanish silver mines.
wheels on carts, for making pottery, and to move water. Europeans also brought that their own way of life was better and that they needed
Archaeologists and historians have evidence that native to change how Native Peoples lived and worked. The Spanish
peoples used wheels on toys, but before the Columbian guns and cannons with Tapestry with deers, Chancay, enforced these changes by making laws that privileged people
Peru, 1000-1450 C.E..
Exchange, they did not use the wheel as a tool. them. Over time, Native Photo courtesy of Lombards Museum who wore Spanish clothing, practiced Christianity, and spoke
Silk was an important textile (cloth) in China. It is derived Peoples traded their goods Spanish.

from worms that live on mulberry bushes. Spanish colonists for muskets and rifles. This Native Peoples of the
brought mulberry bushes and silkworms to Mexico in the exchange was particularly widespread in North America, Americas also practiced

early 1500s. Textile (cloth) makers from Europe showed where many tribes traded beaver pelts for muskets and rifles. polytheism, or the worship
Native Peoples how to spin wool, dye cloth, and weave. By This began to change the way Native Peoples hunted and of more than one god. The
the late 1500s, dozens of textile workshops employed native fought in battles. Europeans were Catholics
and only worshiped one god.
They believed it was their
duty to convert
native peoples
to Christianity.
Christian
missionaries
crossed the
Atlantic Ocean
to preach to
The Cathedral of Quito, constructed
between 1562 and 1567, is regarded as the
Illustration of medieval farmers operating a plow Quinine bark oldest cathedral in South America.
Photo courtesy of putneymark
Photo courtesy of H. Zell