Latin America SS6H1 (B)

Explain the impact of the

Columbian Exchange on Latin

America & Europe in terms of : the

decline of the indigenous people,

agricultural change, and the

introduction of the horse.

In Other Words….

• Explain how the exchange of goods,

animals, and diseases between Europe and Latin America caused

the native population of Latin

America to decrease, changed how

and what they farmed & ate, and

changed how they traveled from one place to another.

The Columbian Exchange

• The Columbian Exchange is the term

used to identify the exchange of

goods, animals, people, and diseases

between Europe and the Americas.

• It is called the Columbian Exchange

because it began after, and as a result

of, Columbus ‘discovering’ the

Americas

Columbian Exchange

• The ‘Old World’ usually means Europe,

but can sometimes also include Africa,

because these parts of the world were

already known to Europe and its

explorers ~ it was ‘old’ news

• The ‘New World’ means the Americas

(both North & South America), because

these lands were ‘new’ to Europe and

their explorers who ‘discovered’ these

new lands

The ‘Old World’

Europe, Africa, Western Asia (Everything in the Eastern Hemisphere except for Australia)

The ‘New World’

The Exchange of Plants

• One important part of the Columbian

Exchange was the exchange of food

plants

– Cocoa, corn, potatoes, peppers, &

tomatoes grew in Central & South

America & were shipped back to

Europe

– Coffee, peaches, sugar, & wheat grew in Europe and were shipped to the

Americas

Crops Grown in the Americas

~ Shipped back to Europe:

Crops Grown in Europe ~

Brought to the Americas by

Europeans

New Food = New Diet

• Having these new crops meant that what

people ate, both in Europe & in the

Americas, changed drastically

• Not only did this mean a larger variety of

foods to choose from but also meant a

more complete and nutritious diet insuring

that people were more likely to get all of

the vitamins, minerals etc. their bodies

need to grow & be healthy

A More Complete, Balanced Diet

European Diseases • While many things Europeans brought with

them to the Americas were useful to the

natives, often helping to make their lives

better & easier, Europeans also

unknowingly brought something else that

would devastate the native population

throughout the Americas … Diseases

• The Europeans brought with them many

diseases that the native people had

never seen or been exposed to before.

• Their bodies did not have immunities

(natural resistance) to these new

diseases and their healers did not know

how to treat them

• Some of the diseases Europeans brought

with them to the Americas were

influenza (flu), measles, small pox, and

typhoid fever.

• Between 50% and 75% of the indigenous

(native) population of some tribes in the

Americas lost their lives to these new

European diseases.

• Far more indigenous people died from

these diseases than in battle with

European explorers/conquerors

New Animals From Europe

• Europeans also introduced certain

animals to the New World.

• These included pigs, cows, goats, and

bees

The Horse…

• The horse was another animal Europeans

introduced to the indigenous people of

the New World

• Horses were by far the most important

animal the Europeans brought to the New

World

• Horses made it possible

for the natives to travel

faster and farther than

ever before

• They made trade and

travel easier, which made

it possible for the natives

to spread their culture

and knowledge farther,

reaching other native tribes they had never

come into contact with

• This sharing of goods, culture, and

information made life better for all people

living in the Americas

Triangular Trade

• One of the most important results of The

Columbian Exchange (the exchange of

goods, people, and diseases between

the ‘Old World’ and the ‘New World’),

was a trade pattern called the Triangular

Trade

• The Triangular trade was named after the

shape that its trade routes, coming and

going from Europe, Africa, and the

Americas, made.

Europe

Africa

North

America

South

America

• The trade routes of the Triangular Trade

carried the goods and people that were

also a part of the Columbian Exchange

– But, the Columbian Exchange was the

trading of goods, people, and diseases

between Europe and the New World (it included

any exchange of anything between the ‘Old World’ and the

‘New World’)

– The Triangular Trade were the specific trade

routes of specific goods between specific

places

• In the Triangular Trade:

– Raw Materials (examples: cut trees and animal hides that

have not been processed into finished goods that can be sold)

are shipped from the Americas, where they are

grown and harvested, to Europe where they will be processed and turned into finished goods,

like rocking chairs and winter coats.

North

America

South

America

Europe

Africa

• In the Triangular Trade:

– Manufactured Goods (examples: Rocking Chairs and

Winter Coats) are made in Europe using the raw

materials shipped to them from the Americas.

They are shipped from Europe to Africa, where they will either be sold or shipped to the

Americas to be sold.

North

America

South

America

Europe

Africa

• In the Triangular Trade:

– Slaves shipped from Africa to the Americas

where they were forced into slavery, working

to grow and harvest the raw materials that

were shipped to Europe

North

America

South

America

Europe

Africa

Summary Assessment Question:

• Imagine that you are a native living in

Central America when the Spanish

conquistadors arrive on the coasts of your

land. Describe the many new things they

bring with them (food, animals, diseases).

Explain how each of these groups of new

things have changed your life. Do you

feel that your life is better or worse after

the Europeans arrived. Explain why you

feel this way.

• This is a short answer response. This means that

your answer should be paragraph length, not one word answers.

• Specifically you should have:

– 1 introductory sentence

– 3 sentences describing the new things brought by

the Europeans (1 for food, 1 for animals, 1 for

disease)

– 3 sentences describing how each of these groups of

new things have changed your life (1 for food, 1 for

animals, 1 for disease)

– 1 sentence telling whether your life is better or worse

– 1 sentence, minimum, explaining why you feel this

way

* Total of 9 complete, correct sentences, minimum