The Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian interchange, was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the New World (the Americas) in the Western Hemisphere, and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) in the Eastern Hemisphere, in the late 15th and following centuries.[1] It is named after the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and is related to the European colonization and global trade following his 1492 voyage.[1] Some of the exchanges were purposeful while others were unintended. Communicable diseases of Old World origin resulted in an 80 to 95 percent reduction in the number of Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the 15th century onwards, most severely in the Caribbean.[1] The cultures of both hemispheres were significantly impacted by the migration of people, both free and enslaved, from the Old World to the New. European colonists and African slaves replaced Indigenous populations across the Americas, to varying degrees. The number of Africans taken to the New World was far greater than the number of Europeans moving to the New World in the first three centuries after Columbus.[2][3]
The new contacts among the global population resulted in the interchange of a wide variety of crops and livestock, which supported increases in food production and population in the Old World. American crops such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, cassava, sweet potatoes, and chili peppers became important crops around the world. Old World rice, wheat, sugar cane, and livestock, among other crops, became important in the New World. American-produced silver flooded the world and became the standard metal used in coinage, especially in Imperial China.
The term was first used in 1972 by the American historian and professor Alfred W. Crosby in his environmental history book The Columbian Exchange.[1][4] It was rapidly adopted by other historians and journalists.
In 1972, Alfred W. Crosby, an American historian at the University of Texas at Austin, published the book The Columbian Exchange,[4] and subsequent volumes in the 1970s. His primary focus was mapping the biological and cultural transfers that occurred between the Old and New Worlds. He studied the effects of Columbus's voyages between the two – specifically, the global diffusion of crops, seeds, and plants from the New World to the Old, which radically transformed agriculture in both regions.[5]
His research made a lasting contribution to the way scholars understand the variety of contemporary ecosystems that arose due to these transfers.[5]The term has become popular among historians and journalists and has since been enhanced with Crosby's later book in three editions, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900. Charles C. Mann, in his book 1493 further expands and updates Crosby's original research.[6]
The weight of scientific evidence is that humans first came to the New World from Siberia thousands of years ago. There is little additional evidence of contacts between the peoples of the Old World and those of the New World, although the literature speculating on pre-Columbian trans-oceanic journeys is extensive. The first inhabitants of the New World brought with them domestic dogs and, possibly, a container, the calabash, both of which persisted in their new home.[7] The medieval explorations, visits, and brief residence of the Norsemen in Greenland, Newfoundland, and Vinland in the late 10th century and 11th century had no known impact on the Americas.[8]
Many scientists accept that possible contact between Polynesians and coastal peoples in South America around the year 1200 resulted in genetic similarities and the adoption by Polynesians of an American crop, the sweet potato.[9] However, it was only with the first voyage of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and his crew to the Americas in 1492 that the Columbian exchange began, resulting in major transformations in the cultures and livelihoods of the peoples in both hemispheres.[1]
The first manifestation of the Columbian exchange may have been the spread of syphilis from the native people of the Caribbean Sea to Europe. The history of syphilis has been well-studied, but the origin of the disease remains a subject of debate.[10] There are two primary hypotheses: one proposes that syphilis was carried to Europe from the Americas by the crew of Christopher Columbus in the early 1490s, while the other proposes that syphilis previously existed in Europe but went unrecognized.[11]
The first written descriptions of syphilis in the Old World came in 1493.[12] The first large outbreak of syphilis in Europe occurred in 1494–1495 among the army of Charles VIII during its invasion of Naples.[11][13][14][15] Many of the crew members who had served with Columbus had joined this army. After the victory, Charles's largely mercenary army returned to their respective homes, thereby spreading "the Great Pox" across Europe and killing up to five million people.[16][17]
The Columbian exchange of diseases in the other direction was by far deadlier. The peoples of the Americas previously had no exposure to European and African diseases and little or no immunity.[18] An epidemic of swine influenza beginning in 1493 killed many of the Taino people inhabiting Caribbean islands. The pre-contact population of the island of Hispaniola was probably at least 500,000, but by 1526, fewer than 500 were still alive. Spanish exploitation was part of the cause of the near-extinction of the native people.[19]
In 1518, smallpox was first recorded in the Americas and became the deadliest imported Old World disease. Forty percent of the 200,000 people living in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, later Mexico City, are estimated to have died of smallpox in 1520 during the war of the Aztecs with conquistador Hernán Cortés.[20] Epidemics, possibly of smallpox and spread from Central America, devastated the population of the Inca Empire a few years before the arrival of the Spanish.[21] The ravages of Old World diseases and Spanish exploitation reduced the Mexican population from an estimated 20 million to barely more than a million in the 16th century.[22]
The indigenous population of Peru decreased from about 9 million in the pre-Columbian era, to 600,000 in 1620.[23] An estimated 80–95 percent of the Native American population died in epidemics within the first 100–150 years following 1492. Nunn and Qian also refer to the calculations of the scientist David Cook, in which in some cases no one survived due to diseases. The deadliest Old World diseases in the Americas were smallpox, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, typhus, and malaria.[24]
The Atlantic slave trade consisted of the involuntary immigration of 11.7 million Africans, primarily from West Africa, to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries, far outnumbering the about 3.4 million Europeans who migrated, most voluntarily, to the New World between 1492 and 1840.[25] The prevalence of African slaves in the New World was related to the demographic decline of New World peoples and the need of European colonists for labor. Another reason for the demand for slaves was the cultivation of special crops, for example, sugar cane, which were suitable for the climatic conditions of the new lands and were very popular.[26] The Africans had greater immunities to Old World diseases than the New World peoples, and were less likely to die from disease. The journey of enslaved Africans from Africa to America is commonly known as the "middle passage".[27]
Enslaved Africans helped shape an emerging African-American culture in the New World. They participated in both skilled and unskilled labor. For example, according to the work of James L. Watson, slaves were involved in handicraft production. They could also work as ordinary workers, and as managers of small enterprises in the commercial or industrial sphere.[28] Their descendants gradually developed an ethnicity that drew from the numerous African tribes as well as European nationalities.[29][26] The descendants of African slaves make up a majority of the population in some Caribbean countries, notably Haiti and Jamaica, and a sizeable minority in most American countries.[30]
According to the scholar Jean MacGregor, in the New World there was denial and rebellion against slavery. The rebels went into the rainforests, fought the colonizers, refusing to stop until the signing of agreements, or gathered in settlements. Conscious preservation of ethnic characteristics was considered an unspoken manifestation of resistance. This applied to both men and women, but women had a greater influence on the transmission of ethnic culture to future generations as they were engaged in the upbringing of children.[31]
A movement for the abolition of slavery, known as abolitionism, developed in Europe and the Americas during the 18th century. The efforts of abolitionists eventually led to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, the United States in 1865, and Brazil in 1888.
The New World produced 80 percent or more of the world's silver in the 16th and 17th centuries, most of it at Potosí in Bolivia, but also in Mexico. The founding of the city of Manila in the Philippines in 1571 for the purpose of facilitating trade in New World silver with China for silk, porcelain, and other luxury products has been called by scholars the "origin of world trade."[32] China was the world's largest economy and in the 1570s adopted silver, which China did not produce in any quantity, as its medium of exchange.[33]
China had little interest in buying foreign products, so trade consisted of large quantities of silver coming into China to pay for the Chinese products that foreign countries desired. Silver made it to Manila either through Europe and by ship around the Cape of Good Hope or across the Pacific Ocean in Spanish galleons from the Mexican port of Acapulco. From Manila, the silver was transported onward to China on Portuguese and later Dutch ships. Silver was also smuggled from Potosi to Buenos Aires, Argentina to pay slavers for African slaves imported into the New World.[33]
The enormous quantities of silver imported into Spain and China created vast wealth but also caused inflation and the value of silver to decline. In 16th century China, six ounces of silver was equal to the value of one ounce of gold. In 1635, it took 13 ounces of silver to equal in value one ounce of gold. Taxes in both countries were assessed on the weight of silver, not its value. The shortage of revenue due to the decline in the value of silver may have contributed indirectly to the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644. Silver from the Americas financed Spain's attempt to conquer other countries in Europe. The decline in the value of silver left Spain faltering in the maintenance of its world-wide empire and retreating from its aggressive policies in Europe after 1650.[34][35]
Because of the new trading resulting from the Columbian exchange, several plants native to the Americas have since spread around the world, including potatoes, maize, tomatoes, and tobacco.[36] Before 1500, potatoes were not grown outside of South America. By the 18th century, they were cultivated and consumed widely in Europe and had become important crops in both India and North America. A highly caloric crop,[37] potatoes eventually became an important staple food in the diets of many Europeans, contributing to an estimated 12 to 25% of the population growth in Afro-Eurasia between 1700 and 1900.[38] Many European rulers, including Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia, encouraged the cultivation of the potato.[39][2]
Despite their lack of some essential nutrients such as vitamins D and A, potatoes came to satisfy major portions of the nutritional needs of people around the world. According to one study, the introduction of potatoes to the Old World accounts for 47 percent of the increase in urbanization between 1700 and 1900.[2] Maize and cassava were introduced from South America by the Portuguese in the 16th century,[40] and gradually replaced sorghum and millet as Africa's most important food crops.[41] Spanish colonizers of the 16th century introduced new staple crops to Asia from the Americas, including maize and sweet potatoes, and thereby contributed to population growth in Asia.[42] On a larger scale, the introduction of potatoes and maize to the Old World "resulted in caloric and nutritional improvements over previously existing staples" throughout the Eurasian landmass,[43] enabling more varied and abundant food production.[44]
Cassava was in greater demand in the Old World than maize. These crops also have negative consequences when overused (for example, the nutritional diseases pellagra and konzo), but this has not diminished the importance of maize and cassava to human nutrition.[2]
Tomatoes, which came to Europe from the New World via Spain, were initially prized in Italy mainly for their ornamental value. Starting in the 19th century, tomato sauces became typical of Neapolitan cuisine and, ultimately, Italian cuisine in general.[45] The discovery of the Americas brought the Old World not only many previously unknown plant species but also new arable landscapes with favorable soils for growing highly valued Old World crops, such as sugarcane and coffee. Sugar had long been important to Old World populations and found even greater importance when cultivated in the New World, as it is high-calorie and inexpensive. It was actively used in cooking and is thought to have increased the well-being of its consumers.[43]
Coffee, introduced in the Americas circa 1720 from Africa and the Middle East, and sugarcane, introduced from the Indian subcontinent to the Spanish West Indies, subsequently became the primary commodity crops and exported goods of extensive Latin American plantations. Introduced to India by the Portuguese, chili peppers and potatoes from South America in turn became integral parts of Indian cuisine.[46] The discovery and spread of chili peppers in particular contributed to the creation of many well-known dishes and spices which are now intimately identified with Old World locales, including Korean kimchi, Indian curry, and Hungarian paprika.
Because crops traveled widely but at least initially their endemic fungi did not, for a limited time yields were somewhat higher in the new regions to which they were introduced due to a form of ecological release. Dark & Gent (2001) termed this the "yield honeymoon". However, as globalization has continued, the exchange of pathogens has also continued, and crops have declined back toward their endemic yields.[47]
Nunn and Qian mention chocolate and vanilla in their work. The Spanish were the first Europeans to grow cacao, in 1590. Though cacao was usually consumed by European populations in the form of sweets and was at first treated as an expensive luxury item, it helped to cope with fatigue and add strength and energy. As for vanilla, the pods of the plant after chemical treatment acquired an aroma, which was then used both in cooking and in perfumery.[2]
Rice was another crop that became widely cultivated during the Columbian exchange. As the demand in the New World grew, so did the knowledge of how to cultivate it. The two primary species used were Oryza glaberrima and Oryza sativa, originating from West Africa and Southeast Asia, respectively. European planters in the New World relied upon the skills of African slaves to cultivate both species.[48] Georgia, South Carolina, Cuba, and Puerto Rico were major centers of rice production during the colonial era. Enslaved Africans brought their knowledge of water control, milling, winnowing, and other agrarian practices to the fields. This widespread knowledge among African slaves eventually led to rice becoming a staple food in the New World.[5][49]
Citrus fruits and grapes were brought to the Americas from the Mediterranean. At first planters struggled to adapt these crops to New World climates, but by the late 19th century they were cultivated more consistently.[50]
Bananas were introduced into the Americas in the 16th century by Portuguese sailors, who came across the fruits in West Africa while engaged in commercial ventures and the slave trade. Despite this early introduction they were consumed in minimal amounts in the Americas as late as the 1880s. The U.S. did not see major increases in banana consumption until large plantations were established in the Caribbean.[51]
The Manila galleon trading network introduced American plants such as chayote and papaya into Southeast Asia; these were incorporated into the cuisines there.[52]
It took three centuries after their introduction in Europe for tomatoes to become a widely accepted food item. Nunn & Qian claim that, according to experts, long before the arrival of the Spaniards, wild tomatoes came from Central America to South America, thereby initiating the cultivation of tomatoes in different parts of the Americas.[2] Tobacco, potatoes, chili peppers, tomatillos, and tomatoes are all members of the nightshade family. Similar to some European nightshade varieties, tomatoes and potatoes can be harmful or even lethal if the wrong part of the plant is consumed in excess. Physicians in the 16th century had good reason to suspect that this native Mexican fruit was poisonous; they suspected it of generating "melancholic humours".[citation needed]
In 1544, Pietro Andrea Mattioli, a Tuscan physician and botanist, suggested that tomatoes might be edible, but no record exists of anyone consuming them at this time. In 1592, the head gardener at the botanical garden of Aranjuez near Madrid, under the patronage of Philip II of Spain, wrote, "it is said [tomatoes] are good for sauces". In spite of these comments, tomatoes remained exotic plants grown for ornamental purposes, but rarely for culinary use.[citation needed] On October 31, 1548, the tomato was given its first name anywhere in Europe when a house steward of Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence, wrote to the Medici's private secretary that the basket of pomi d'oro "had arrived safely". At this time, the label pomi d'oro was also used to refer to figs, melons, and citrus fruits in treatises by scientists.[53]
In the early years, tomatoes were mainly grown as ornamentals in Italy. For example, the Florentine aristocrat Giovan Vettorio Soderini wrote that they "were to be sought only for their beauty" and were grown only in gardens or flower beds. Tomatoes were grown in elite town and country gardens in the fifty years or so following their arrival in Europe, and were only occasionally depicted in works of art.[citation needed] Tomatoes are very useful, as they contain significant amounts of the essential vitamins C and A. Even despite the small number of calories they provide, tomatoes have become regular contributors to the diets of Western consumers.[2] The first Italian cookbook to include tomato sauce, Lo Scalco alla Moderna ("The Modern Steward"), was written by Italian chef Antonio Latini and was published in two volumes in 1692 and 1694. In 1790, the use of tomato sauce with pasta appeared for the first time, in the Italian cookbook L'Apicio Moderno ("The Modern Apicius"), by chef Francesco Leonardi.[54] Today around 32,000 acres (13,000 ha) of tomatoes are cultivated in Italy.[53]
The most problematic thing about eating tomatoes was their storage conditions. In hot weather, tomatoes deteriorated in just a few days. Canning solved this problem by allowing the product to be stored for months. Although canning was expensive in the beginning, after the introduction of mechanical labor, tomatoes became available to everyone.[2] Canned tomatoes contain a useful antioxidant, lycopene, which reduces the risk of developing serious diseases.[2]
Initially, the Columbian exchange of animals largely went in one direction, from Europe to the New World, as the Eurasian regions had domesticated many more animals. Horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, cattle, sheep,