The "Columbian" Exchange
Consequences of Globalization

1. Modern Supermarket (Credit: William Perlman)

2. Ice Cream Sundae

   1. Sugar - India. First cystalyized sugar made from cane sugar juice produced in India c. 450 CE

   2. Vanilla - Mexico. Made from the seed pod of the vanilla orchid.

   3. Maraschino cherry

      1. Edible cherries come from Europe and West Asia

      2. Marachino has its origin in Croatia

   4.  Chocolate - Amazonian Peru. Cacao tree first domesticated in the Amazonian region near the Peruvian-Brazilian border

   5. Cow milk - Turkey. Cattle fist domesticated in Turkey approximately 10,000 years ago

   6. Peanuts - Argeninta and Bolivia.

   7. This man could not get an ice cream sundae when he was a kid (realistically, never in his lifetime) Zh Youcheng, the Hongzhi Emperor of China, Ming Dynasty (1487-1505)

3. The "Columbian" Exchange (1492-the present)

   1. Creating permanent trade between Americas and rest of world creates profound changes

      1. Planets native to each area are exchanges

      2. Animals make the same journey

      3. as do pathogens - bacteria, viruses, etc.

   2. Named after Columbus

      1. Columbus establishes the first permanent trans-Atlantic route

      2. But more than the trans-Atlantic route is at work

         1. Increased interchange between regions within continents

         2. frontier expansion in Asia and the Americas

         3. trans-oceanic routes develop in the Pacific

         4. Pacific islands and Australia linked to outside world

4. Ecological effects - Foodstuffs

   1. From Europe/Africa/Asia to the Americas (a partial list)

      1. wheat

      2. rice

      3. bananas

      4. citrus fruits

      5. apples, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, cherries

      6. olives

      7. wine grapes

      8. cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens

   2. From the Americas to the rest of the world (a partial list)

      1. corn (the book uses the word "maize")

      2. potatoes and sweet potatoes

      3. cassava (also called manioc or yucca)

      4. peanuts

      5. tomatoes

      6. chilies

      7. turkey

   3. Impact of new foods on Europe/Africa/Asia

      1. Corn/Maize becomes popular because of high calorie per acre value, and needs little labor

      2. Potatoes, able to grow in cold climate and poor soils, become important in northern Europe and in Bengal

      3. Sweet potatoes, also able to grow in poor soil, become important in East Asia

      4. Cassava becomes important in West Africa

      5. All of these lead to growing populations, especially in Europe and Asia

      6. Specialty crops like tomatoes and chilies transform regional cuisines, but have less impact on population

   4. Impact of new foodstuffs on Americas

      1. Grasslands of much of the Americas transformed into ranchland of animals brought by Europeans

      2. Introduction of wheat, meant to satisfy colonists tastes, transforms landscape but has modest impact on population (in part because of imported diseases)

5. Ecological Exchange - Commercial crops

   1. Cane sugar

      1. Cane sugar, brought to the Caribbean, is the first of the major plantation crops

      2. Creates a viable products for trans-Atlantic trade

      3. encourages widespread colonization in tropical zones and massive importation of African slave labor

   2. Tobacco and Coffee in the Americas

      1. Tobacco originates in North America; Coffee in East Africa and Middle East

      2. Allow for plantation agriculture in temperate regions

      3. Makes possible viable colonies in places like British North America and mountainous areas of Caribbean and South America

   3. Chocolate and coffee around the world

      1. both plants become plantation crops around the world

      2. this becomes possible in part because of trade routes created by cane sugar

6. Ecological Exchange - Pathogens

   1. Pathogens in the Americas

      1. Amerindians lacked immunity to many diseases

      2. Big killers were smallpox and influenza, but many other diseases new to the Americas

      3. 1500-1600 saw a population drop in the Americas of between 60 and 90%

      4. Worst hit areas see the largest influx of Europeans, both as a cause and as a result

   2. Pathogens in Eurasian frontiers and the Pacific

      1. expanding imperial frontiers in Siberia and central Asia have a similar impact

      2. the most isolated regions, like Pacific islands, are often the worst hit

      3. increased trade routes over more areas of the globe see also increased incidents or epidemics of more familiar diseases

7. The Great Migrations

   1. The Americas

      1. Declining Amerindian populations allowed for increased European immigration

      2. Poor life expectancies among all groups led to coerced labor importation (slavery and indentured servitude)

      3. African slavery starts first in Spanish Caribbean (by 1510) spreading to Portuguese America (Brazil) and beyond

      4. In time, millions (roughly 10-12) of Africans are transported to coastal zones of tropical and sub-tropical North and South America

      5. European migration is more modest until the 19th and 20th centuries, and tends to focus on temperate and highland regions

   2. Expansion of settlement in Europe and Asia

      1. China and Russian both initiate settlement policies in their expanding frontiers

      2. Settlement takes place at the expense of herders and hunter gathers, and spreads disease to these people

      3. Independent emigration of Chinese begins to transform the populations of Southeast Asia, particularly the port cities

   3. Continued Expansion in Africa and the Americas

      1. Spanish and British expand settlement steadily from 1600s forward, generally taking land from herders and small farmers

      2. More powerful African states, particularly those with access to global trade routes, follow a similar pattern

      3. French and British establish trade ports for fur products deep in North America, notably in modern Canada

      4. These patterns also contribute to the expansion of disease