The Great Exchange

Question 1

What did Columbus’s discovery of the New World initiate?

Answer 1

The Great Exchange (Columbian Exchange)

This exchange involved significant quantities of goods between Europe and the New World.

Question 2

What were some effects of the Great Exchange?

Answer 2

Significant changes in diets, spread of disease, growth of the African slave trade

The exchange included new animals and crops between Europe and the Americas.

Question 3

What animals did Europeans introduce to the Americas?

Answer 3

• Horses
• Cattle
• Sheep
• Goats
• Chickens
• Pigs

Animals introduced to Europe included turkeys and alpacas.

Question 4

What crops did Europeans introduce to the Americas?

Answer 4

• Sugar cane
• Bananas
• Lemons

Crops introduced to Europe from the Americas included maize, beans, tomatoes, cocoa, potatoes, and tobacco.

Question 5

What diseases did Europeans bring to the Americas?

Answer 5

• Smallpox
• Measles
• Bubonic plague
• Typhoid
• Scarlet fever
• Cholera
• Mumps

These diseases caused significant harm to native populations.

Question 6

By the late 1700s, what happened to the native population in the Americas?

Answer 6

It fell by between 70 and 90 percent due to disease

In the 1400s, the native population was around forty million.

Question 7

What problem arose due to the fall in the local population in the Americas?

Answer 7

A shortage of workers

This shortage led to the transportation of large numbers of slaves from Africa.