US History

Science and Technology

Three Worlds Meet (Beginnings to 1620)

World History

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Columbian Exchange of ideas, plants, diseases, and people after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America.

A drawing of Christopher Columbus.

This drawing shows Christopher Columbus being sent by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to find a western sea route to China and India. Instead of discovering the route, Columbus and his crew accidentally came upon the Americas. The drawing depicts excitement and eager preparation for the voyage. 

An illustration of Christopher Columbus’s initial meeting with Native Americans.

This image shows an artistic interpretation of Columbus’s initial interactions with Native Americans. Columbus, his men, and his ships are on the left while the Native Americans appear on the right. The drawing portrays big differences between the body positions and clothing of the two groups.

An excerpt from the 1815 book The *History of the Small Pox* by James Carrick Moore.

In this excerpt, Moore describes the calamities and deaths caused by smallpox in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as a result of European colonization of the Americas. Smallpox was one of the most devastating consequences of the Columbian Exchange. Diseases brought to the Americas by Europeans after the Columbian Exchange caused a population decline among Native Americans that was the largest in human history. 

A drawing of a sugar plantation.

This image of a sugar plantation shows Africans harvesting sugarcane under the close supervision and watchful eye of a European overseer. African slavery, another devastating effect of the Columbian Exchange, increased substantially with the introduction of sugarcane production in the New World.

An excerpt from *The Potato*, a 1917 book by Arthur W. Gilbert.

Gilbert discusses the origins of the potato and its transfer from the Americas to Europe. The potato originated in multiple places, but was first cultivated in Peru by the Incas some time between 8,000 BCE and 5,000 BCE. In 1589 CE, Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the potato to Ireland, where it became a major staple crop.

An 1891 photograph of a traditional Native American cow shield.

Cow shields were used by Native Americans as a defensive and protective armor for warriors on horseback. Cow shields were especially prominent amongst the Great Plain Indians. Columbus brought the first cows to the Americas from Europe in 1493. As a domesticated animal, cows were primarily a food source for Native Americans. Additionally, cowhide was used for clothing, tents, and shields. The cow shield in this photograph has green spots on white ground, with blue, red, and yellow lines across center.

An excerpt from a 1672 book describing plant and bird discoveries in New England.

These excerpts from *New England’s Rarities Discovered in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, and Plants of That County*, by John Josselyn, provide evidence of plants being exchanged across hemispheres. Josselyn, an Englishman who made at least three trips to New England in the seventeenth century, was fascinated by the plant and animal life in the region. His published account is one of the earliest and most complete descriptions of the biodiversity in colonial New England. Among plants being exchanged across hemispheres, Josselyn notes that the dandelion “ha[s] sprung up since the English planted and kept cattle in New England” (137). He also notes that cabbage and lettuce from England grow exceedingly well in New England.

An excerpt from an 1890 book on horse training.

This excerpt comes from *Horse education: A Treatise on the Origin, Characteristics, and Training of Horses* by Thomas J. Murray. Murray describes the origins of the modern horse, which he traces back to fossils of a prehistoric animal with three toes and a hoof from the Cretaceous period around 145 millions year ago. The modern horses of Mexico, South America, and North America can all be traced back to European colonization.

An Aztec codex prominently displaying maize, 1830.

Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people groups (Aztecs, Mixtecs, and Mayans, e.g.) created codexes, textual records, that are one of the best primary sources for historical information about their cultures. This codex, *Thirteen Cities Paying Tribute to Aztecs*, was recreated in 1830 by Agostino Aglio. It reveals the importance of maize to the Aztecs. Maize, a corn that was first grown by indigenous people in Mexico nearly ten thousand years ago, is one of the most important crops to be “exchanged” in the Columbian Exchange. It can grow in nearly any climate; currently, under certain conditions, corn can produce a yield double that of wheat. After the Columbian Exchange, corn fed humans and livestock, contributing to population growth in many areas.

An excerpt from a 1994 book of cultural ecology discussing Spanish missions. 

In this excerpt from *A River Ran Through It ... : The Cultural Ecology of the Santa Clara Valley Riparian Zone*, Erin Reilly discusses the history of [Spanish missions](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sets/spanish-missions-in-california) and the environmental consequences of Spaniards’ presence on the California coast. Reilly describes how the Spanish missions introduced a shift in thinking, from the indigenous peoples’ view of the earth “as living and deserving of attention and respect” to the Spaniards’ view of the earth “as a vehicle of production” (41).

A photograph of a sweet potato plant, 1900.

Sweet potato cultivation spread to Europe in the fifteenth century as a result of the Columbian Exchange, but it had already spread to Polynesia, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands around the ninth century. In this photograph, one can see many features of the plant. The leaves and stem at the top of the plant would be above ground when the potato is growing, while the fibrous roots and storage roots at the bottom of the plant would be below the surface. The storage roots are the sweet potatoes that, during harvest season, require some heavy labor to dig out of the ground.

A fire pot depicting Aztec gods, circa 1325 to 1521.

This fire pot, also called a brazier, was used by the Aztecs to offer burnt offerings to their gods. The figure attached to the front of the brazier is a combination of the Aztec rain god, Tlaloc, and the corn god, Centeōtl. One of the most important deities among the Aztecs, Centeōtl reveals the significance and importance of corn in that society. As a result of the Columbian Exchange, corn also became extremely important in other regions of the world.

An eighteenth-century illustration of a tomato plant.

This illustration of the tomato plant was created by Giorgio Bonelli, an Italian, who painted this and many others featuring plants in the eighteenth century. This illustration highlights the significance of the tomato to Italy. Tomatoes were first cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas and introduced to Europe through the Columbian Exchange.

Questions

1. In the [drawing of Christopher Columbus](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1564), how does the artist depict Columbus and the 1492 voyage? In what ways does this depiction reflect the “conquistador” narrative of personal glory and fame?
2. Compare the [drawing of Christopher Columbus](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1564) and the [illustration of Columbus’s initial meeting with Native Americans](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1565). How are American Indians depicted in the latter image? How is that depiction related to the main ideas of the Columbian Exchange?
3. Examine [*The History of the Small Pox*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1566) and the [drawing of a sugar plantation](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1567). How did the Columbian Exchange affect Africans and American Indians?
4. Analyze the [excerpts from *The Potato*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1568) and from the [1672 book describing plant and bird discoveries](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1571). What are some similarities and differences among origin and exchange stories for different plants and animals? 
5. Analyze the [cow shield](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1570), the [Aztec codex](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1573), and the [Aztec brazier](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1576). What specific evidence from the three images demonstrates the value that American Indians placed on the cow and on corn/maize? 
6. What does the 1890 [book on horse training](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1572) say about the ways horses transformed life for American Indians?
7. In the [book about Spanish missions](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1574), how does the author portray the role of missions in California?
8. View and analyze the [image of the sweet potato plant](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1575) and the [image of the tomato](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-columbian-exchange/sources/1577). What are some of the consequences for agricultural labor of the shape and size of these plants?


Activity

1. Ask students to name a favorite dish or meal and find a recipe for it. Students should then research the origins of every ingredient in the recipe, determining if they would have been able to make their dish or meal in 1400 if they lived in their current location. 
2. Students should choose one of the following foods: rice, corn, peaches, vanilla, peanuts, strawberries, coffee, and avocado. Students should determine the following about their choice: the place of origin, the place that it transferred to after the Columbian Exchange, some uses of the item in the original area, its importance in the original area, some uses in the receiving area, some myths or stories about the item, and some current popular foods or dishes from different parts of the world using the item.

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Columbian Exchange

Resources

1. [The Columbian Exchange](https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/american-indians/essays/columbian-exchange), Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. 
2. [The Columbian Exchange](http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-twoworlds/1866), Learn NC. 
3. [The Columbian Exchange](https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-1/apush-old-and-new-worlds-collide/v/the-columbian-exchange), Khan Academy. 
4. [The Columbian Exchange](http://public.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site19/), Gettysburg College. 

Overview

Historical evidence proves that there were interactions between Europe and the Americas before Christopher Columbus’s voyage in 1492. But Columbus’s contact precipitated a large, impactful, and lastingly significant transfer of animals, crops, people groups, cultural ideas, and microorganisms between the two worlds. In 1493, for example, on his second voyage, Columbus brought horses, dogs, pigs, cattle, chickens, sheep, and goats to the “new” world. Later in the 1530s, the Spanish conquistador and explorer Francisco Pizarro saw the potato in the Andes of South America and brought this crop to Europe. Bacteria and viruses, as well technological and cultural ideas, moved between the hemispheres, and Europeans forcibly transported enslaved people from Africa to the Americas to provide free labor. These transfers had a monumental impact on the development of our modern world. Alfred Crosby, who wrote an important 1972 book called *The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492*, asserts that the commingling of plants, animals, and bacteria resulting from the Columbian Exchange is one of the most important ecological events in human history. 

This primary source set explores positive and negative consequences of this great shift, showing both instances of exchange and resulting instances of cultural, political, ecological, and biological imperialism. 


English

The Columbian Exchange

columbian-exchange_06_88694bade10d9a1f2885761a676041b9.jpg

Courtesy of National Museum of Natural History - Anthropology Department via Smithsonian Institution.

“Cow Shield,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/88694bade10d9a1f2885761a676041b9.

An 1891 photograph of a traditional Native American cow shield.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 6 of 13 in the Primary Source Set The Columbian Exchange