The Columbian Exchange: Chocolate During the time frame of 1450-1750, the Columbian Exchange was at its height of power and influence. Many products were introduced from foreign lands, like animals such as cattle, chickens, and horse, and agriculture such as potatoes, bananas, and avocados. Diseases also became widespread and persisted to distant lands where it wreaked devastation upon the non-immunized people. One such influential product during this time period was the cacao, or more commonly known as chocolate. First discovered and used in the Americas, cacao beans quickly traveled to and became a popular treat in European lands. It was valuable in the New World and even used as a currency by the Aztecs. Only the rich and privileged were allowed to purchase the valuable item in the beginning. Cacao was even used in religious ceremonies by the native people. When it moved to Europe and other lands, it also created a lot of stir. The cacao plant had quite a large impact upon the Columbian Exchange. Chocolate or cacao was first discovered by the Europeans as a New World plant, as the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. In Latin, Theobroma literally means: “food of the Gods” (Bugbee, Cacao and Chocolate: A Short History of Their Production and Use). Originally found and cultivated in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America, its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water” (Grivetti; Howard-Yana, Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage). It was also a beverage in Mayan tradition that served a function as a ceremonial item. The cacao plant is g... ... middle of paper ... ...South America and became important export crops in West Africa in the 20th century. While little information was provided on our specific topic, this source was useful for the information of the Columbian Exchange. Nunn, Nathan, and Nancy Qian. "The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas." Journal of Economic Perspectives. Yale University, 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. . This source was one of the most useful for the research of the collateral. It is a PDF file of the Columbian Exchange and all the background information of the trade, as well as an extensive list of foods are provided. Cacao beans, while not a staple crop, was very influential in the trade network. This journal was useful in providing details on the importance of cacao, and its significance over time.
During the Columbian Exchange many things were traded; Beast of burden, grains, vegetables, fruits, plants, and many diseases. All of these have had a meaningful impact to the ‘new’ and ‘old’ world., but only a few have had a large and substantial effect on the world today. Those few items are corn to the ‘old’ world, horses to the ‘new’ and most importantly death to millions in the ‘new’ world due to smallpox.
The Columbian exchange was the widespread transfer of various products such as animals, plants, and culture between the Americas and Europe. Though most likely unintentional, the byproduct that had the largest impact from this exchange between the old and new world was communicable diseases. Europeans and other immigrants brought a host of diseases with them to America, which killed as much as ninety percent of the native population. Epidemics ravaged both native and nonnative populations of the new world destroying civilizations. The source of these epidemics were due to low resistance, poor sanitation, and inadequate medical knowledge- “more die of the practitioner than of the natural course of the disease (Duffy).” These diseases of the new world posed a serious
The Columbian Exchange was a time during the 1490’s, where many animals and foods were traded between the Old and New World. They also exchanged ideas and cultures, but unfortunately, they also spread diseases. The Columbian Exchange had more of a negative impact on our world because of the need for slavery and the spread of tobacco.
The Colombian Exchange was an extensive exchange between the eastern and western hemispheres as knows as the Old World and New World. The Colombian exchange greatly affects almost every society. It prompted both voluntary and forced migration of millions of human beings. There are both positive and negative effects that you can see from the Colombian Exchange. The Colombian Exchange explorers created contact between Europe and the Americas. The interaction with Native Americans began the exchange of animals, plants, disease, and weapons. The most significant effects that the Colombian Exchange had on the Old World and New World were its changes in agriculture, disease, culture, and its effects on ecology.
3 - Describe and explain the meaning of the Columbian exchange. How did both the Old and New Worlds experience gains and losses because of the exchange? Which world benefited the most? Why? In what ways does the exchange continue today?
Where some may say that the Columbian Exchange just exchanged objects and ideas, it enabled much more as well. Before the Europeans had actually touched down in the New World, they had obtained a large amount of new experiences from their journeys at sea. “Exploration brought a better understanding of the world, which led to improved navigation and easier future voyages.” (Source One) Before any real exploration, Europeans had not known about Natives in the Americas or that the Americas even existed at all. While they thought they knew everything about the world, it was truly limited compared to its true size. Through this exploration, European explorers were able to obtain more information than they thought there was to know about what else what out in the...
The Columbian exchange describes the exchange of animals, plants and culture that happened between the 15th and the 16th century. This exchange happened between the Americans and the Europeans. Unfortunately, the trade did not only bring profits to the Native Americans, it also brought communicable diseases.
The Columbian Exchange was a trade system between Europe and the New World which produced negative and positive effects towards the nations. Furthermore, the Columbian Exchange provided positive effects such as livestock, crops, and metals from one nation to the other. However, it also issued negative effects like disease, slavery, and violence.
The Columbian Exchange was a period where exchanges between the New and Old Worlds took place. There were cultural and biological exchanges and these included plants, animals, diseases and even technology (Crosby, A.). These exchanges not only transformed the European and Native American ways of life but made it easier. The Columbian Exchange not only transformed life but impacted the social and cultural structure of both sides of the World. Advancements in agricultural production was seen, there was an evolution of warfare, an increased mortality rates and education was also effect by the Columbian Exchange on both the Europeans and Native Americans (Crosby, A.). This exchange began in 1492 with Columbus ' discovery but afterwards, the trade
These documents were sought to explain the social, political, and economic effects of the Columbian Exchange and describe the interaction between Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans. The Europeans were the main cause for these effects during the Columbian Exchange, while the effects were caustic to the new continents they did cultivate a new mix of plants, animals, bacteria, and cultural diffusion which changed the course of history on a path no one would be able to predict except for the ones that lived
The term “Columbian Exchange” was first conceived by historian Alfred W. Crosby, author of, “The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492”. Crosby’s ideology of the ecological aftermath that ensued upon Columbus’ landing in 1492 was not only profound because of his historical approach through the use of biology, but pioneering. The historically prominent reference has become a compendium amongst historians throughout the years. In the foreword to the 30th anniversary edition of Crosby’s book, J. R. McNeill says that in 1972 "Crosby's ideas met with indifference from most historians, neglect from many publishers, and hostility from at least some reviewers, but they now figure prominently in conventional presentations of modern history." (McNeill,2003)
The Columbian exchange was the exchange of slaves, animals, crops, and resources. The Columbian exchange was not as serene and hygienic as explorers and Native American would have liked it. The first reason the Columbian exchange is a significant impact to the European exploration is crops. The east part of the word was growing wheat, barely, rice, and fruit (1). The west of the world was growing potatoes, tomatoes, and fruits (1). The two worlds would trade crops which each other giving the other something they didn’t have. This was not the only things they trade, livestock was also traded. The west part of the world didn’t have a lot of animals and the animals they had weren’t agriculture animals. The animals that Europe sent were horses, cattle, pigs, and sheep (1).The lifestyle of the Native American change when the horses were introduced into their life. The European didn’t send crops and livestock to the new world, they also sent disease. The Europeans sent disease that were nasty, harmful, and very contagious. The European sent disease such as smallpox, Malaria, Diphtheria, and others (1). These diseases were sent to the new world by the ships, people, and especially the pigs. These diseases killed lots of Native American in the New World and was devastating. The Columbian exchange was a great lift for the Europeans because of trade, but not so good for the Native Americans.
The Old World, many European countries, brought over animals such as horses, honey bees, sheep, and pigs. They also brought over the following: barley, wheat, peaches, pears, coffee beans, sugarcane, citrus fruits, steel, and bananas. Horses were vital to the natives and they soon learned how to ride and use horses to their advantage. Steel improved hunting, and sugarcane and coffee beans would later become vital to the America’s economy. The New World, North and South America, welcomed the pioneers with a plethora of new foodstuffs and goods. Some of the new items were as follows: pumpkins, turkeys, corn, tomatoes, peanuts, potatoes, tobacco, and cacao. Corn and potatoes were crucial to the New World once they were discovered. Corn was used as slave food on slave ships, and potatoes were a good nutrient source. While the Old and New World were the main components of the Columbian Exchange, Africa also played a part. They incorporated slaves into the mix once using indentured servants became tiresome. This entire trading and swapping of commodities was an effect of the clashing together of two different ways of
The Amazon region is considered the birthplace of the wild cacao tree. T. cacao appeared with the arrival of human species in South American. It have been suggested that T. cacao is the result of a cross between T. pentagona and T. leiocarpa. Cacao was not been selected for its seeds, but instead for the pulp surrounding them. Selection for the seeds begin in Mesoamerica. The seed pulp was used as a beverage. Cacao cultivation by the Indians, notably the Aztecs of Mexico and Mayas in Central America was established before the New World was discovered. The next question would have to be how did the cacao tree cross the sea. Christopher Columbus brought a cacao beans back to Europe from the Gulf of Honduras. This cargo of cacao beans were the first specimens to enter Europe. The Aztecs settled in Mexico two hundred years before Cortes conquest of Mexico.
Although cocoa is enjoyed by billions of people around the world, this sweet treat was a delicacy only enjoyed by the prosperous individuals in the ancient past. The word cocoa in the Latin the language is ‘Theobroma’ which means “food of the gods”. This superior crop was something only the wealthy people can indulge in many South American countries. The first use of cocoa