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The far-reaching consequences of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492, which marked the beginning of the Columbian Exchange. The exchange led to the mixing of biological worlds, resulting in the introduction of new diseases, crops, and animals to the Americas and vice versa. the devastating impact of new diseases on the American population, the introduction of new crops and animals, and the global spread of American crops and cuisine.
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The arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas marked the meeting of previously separate biological worlds. (John Vanderlyn, Landing of Columbus. Commissioned 1836/1837; placed 1847. Capitol Rotunda, Washington, D.C
Oranges, now a staple of the Florida economy, didn’t grow in the Americas until after the arrival of Spanish explorers
In terms of diseases, the Columbian Exchange was a wildly unequal affair, and the Americas got the worst of it. The flow of disease from the Americas eastward into Eurasia and Africa was either trivial or consisted of a single important infection. Much less is known about pre-Columbian diseases in the Americas than what is known about those in Eurasia. Based on their study of skeletal remains, anthropologists believe that Native Americans certainly suffered from arthritis. They also had another disease, probably a form of tuberculosis that may or may not have been similar to the pulmonary tuberculosis common in the modern world. Native Americans also apparently suffered from a group of illnesses that included two forms of syphilis. One controversial theory asserts that the venereal syphilis epidemic that swept much of Europe beginning in 1494 came from the Americas; however, the available evidence remains inconclusive.
Maize has become a dietary staple in southern Africa
America’s vast contribution to Afro-Eurasia in terms of new plant species and cuisine, however, transformed life in places as far apart as Ireland, South Africa, and China. Before Columbus, the Americas had plenty of domesticated plants. By the time Columbus had arrived, dozens of plants were in regular use, the most important of which were maize (corn), potatoes, cassava, and various beans and squashes. Lesser crops included sweet potato, papaya, pineapple, tomato, avocado, guava, peanuts, chili peppers, and cacao, the raw form of cocoa. Within 20 years of Columbus’ last voyage, maize had established itself in North Africa and perhaps in Spain. It spread to Egypt, where it became a staple in the Nile Delta, and from there to the Ottoman Empire, especially the Balkans. By 1800, maize was the major grain in large parts of what is now Romania and Serbia, and was also important in Hungary, Ukraine, Italy, and southern France. It was often used as animal feed, but people ate it too, usually in a porridge or bread. Maize appeared in China in the 16th century and eventually supplied about one-tenth of the grain supply there. In the 19th century it became an important crop in India. Maize probably played its greatest role, however, in southern Africa. There maize arrived in the 16th century in the context of the slave trade. Southern African environmental conditions, across what is now Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and eastern South Africa, suited maize handsomely. Over the centuries, maize became the primary peasant food in much of southern Africa. In late 20th-century South Africa, for example, maize grew in two-thirds to three-quarters of the region’s cropland.
Despite maize’s success, the humble potato probably had a stronger impact in improving the food supply and in promoting population growth in Eurasia. The potato had little impact in Africa, where conditions did not suit it. But in northern Europe the potato thrived. It had the most significant effect on Ireland, where it promoted a rapid population increase until a potato blight ravaged the crop in 1845, bringing widespread famine to the area. After 1750, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, and Russia also gradually accepted the potato, which helped drive a general population explosion in Europe. This population explosion may have laid the foundation for world-shaking developments such as the Industrial Revolution and modern European imperialism. The potato also fed mountain populations around the world, notably in China, where it encouraged settlement of mountainous regions.
Cassava root. Photo by David Monniaux, 2005
While maize and potatoes had the greatest world historical importance of the American crops, lesser crops made their marks as well. In West Africa, peanuts and cassava provided new foodstuffs. Cassava, a tropical shrub native to Brazil, has starchy roots that will grow in almost any soil. In the leached soils of West and Central Africa, cassava became an indispensable crop. Today some 200 million Africans rely on it as their main source of nutrition. Cacao and rubber, two other South American crops, became important export items in West Africa in the 20th century. The sweet potato, which was introduced into China in the 1560s, became China’s third most important crop after rice and wheat. It proved a useful supplement to diets throughout the monsoon lands of Asia. Indeed, almost everywhere in the world, one or another American food crops caught on, complementing existing crops or, more rarely, replacing them. By the late 20th century, about one-third of the world’s food supply came from plants first cultivated in the Americas. The modern rise of population surely would have been slower without them.