The Columbian Exchange:

--What got exchanged, and why did it matter?

--What happened as a result of those exchanges?

--What larger conclusions can we draw?

Global Ecological Zones(FAO)

Pre-Columbian Trade Routes in North America: prior to 1492, trade confined to the continent….

After 1492: Trade becomes truly global

Two crucial exports from Americas to Europe/Africa/Asia:

maize

First drawing of the potato from John Gerard, Herball, or Generall Historie of Plants, 1597

The impacts of sheep: Valle del Mezquital, Central Mexico

Smallpox epidemics in North America (partial list)

1518-28--Introduced into Hispaniola, spreads to Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, Mexico, possibly US southwest

1630s—smallpox strikes Huron (New France)1630—first recorded epidemic among British

settlements (Massachusetts) and among Algonkin Indians; spreads west into New York

1670s—strikes Cherokee (Southeast)1690s—Virginia1770s—West coast1780s—Missouri river, Great Lakes1830s--Alaska

Population Figures (millions) and Implied Rates of Decline (percent) in the Indian Population of Mexico from 1519 to 1595 [from Robert McCaa]

Author 1519 (millions) 1595 (millions) percent decline(%)

"Mexico“

Rosenblat (1935)4.53 .5 22

Aguirre-Beltrán (1946) 4.5 2.0 56

Zambardino (1980) 5-10 1.1-1.7 64-89

Mendizabal (1939) 8.2 2.4 71

Cook and Simpson (’48) 10.5 2.1-3.0 71-80

Cook and Borah (1963) 18-30 1.4 78-95

Valley of Mexico

Whitmore (1992) 1.3-2.7 0.1-0.4 69-96

Gibson (1964) 1.5 0.2 87

128 towns

Kubler (1942) 0.20 .1 50

Twentieth-century estimates of pre-contact population of North American Indians(from Thornton, 1982)

Population Scholar (date) 1,148,000 Mooney (1910) 2,000,000-3,000,000 Sapper (1924) 900,000 Kroeber (1939) 1,000,000 Steward (1945) 2,000,000-2,500,000 Ashburn (1947) 9,800,000-12,250,000 Dobyns (1966) 2,171,000 Ubelaker (1976) 4,400,000 Denevan (1976)18,000,000 Dobyns (1983)12,000,000 Ramenofsky (1987) 7,000,000 Thornton (1987) 2,000,000-8,000,000 Zambardino (1989)

Interpreting the Impact of Disease:

“For the natives, they are neere all dead of small Poxe, so as the Lord Hathe cleared our title to what we possess.”

--John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1634

“The Lord put an end to this quarrel [over land titles] by smiting them with smallpox….Thus did the Lord allay their quarrelsome spirit and make room for the following part of his army.”

--William Wood, referring to disputes over land, in his book, New England’s Prospect (1634)

Interpreting the Impact of Disease:

“It appears visibly that God wishes that these savages yield their place to new peoples.”

--17th Century French Explorer

Interpreting the Impact of Disease:

Crucial factors (in addition to disease) contributing to the decline of Native populations in North America:

1. Colonial invasions frequent, brutal warfare

2. Violent colonial policies including: forced labor, enslavement, forced relocation

3. Massive immigration of European settlers, 17-19th centuries

4. Loss of subsistence resources to theft and competition (from colonists, displaced tribes)

Conclusions:

1. Biological and social impacts of species introductions are unpredictable:

-sheep in Valle de Mezquital-camels-horse

2. How people react to environmental choices is crucial