AP World 4.3 Columbian Exchange

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, foods, and technologies between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

African Diaspora

The dispersions of Africans out of Africa due to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Negro spirituals

A a style of music that combined European Christian music with traditional African religious songs.

Creole

A broad grouping of languages that combined traditional African languages with European colonizers' languages. They are still popular in the Caribbean Islands today. In the United States, Gullah/Geechee is popular in the South.

Explain the relationship between music and the African Diaspora.

Africans brought certain music styles, like gospel, blues, jazz, samba, reggae, etc. to the Americas when they were transported there over the Transatlantic Slave Trade. They maintained their musical traditions as a means of survival - helping them endure long workdays and communicate. They also developed "Negro spirituals," or songs that combined European Christian music with traditional African music.

Which foods were exchanged between Africa and Europe and Africa and the Americas?

Africans brought okra and rice to the Americas. They also brought knowledge of how to cook gumbo. Tobacco and cacao produced on American plantations were sold to Europe and Africa. Nutritious foods like manioc and yams were brought to Africa from Brazil, leading to population growth. Sugar was produced in Brazil and sold in Europe.

What were the impacts of sugarcane?

Because of its tropical climate and vast land, Brazil was ideal for sugarcane cultivation. Many of the laborers died from disease, so the Portuguese constantly imported Africans from the Kongo Kingdom and the Swahili coast to work on the sugar plantations.

What were the environmental impacts of the Columbian exchange on the Eastern Hemisphere?

Better nutrition and increase in population from potatoes, maize, and manioc, more diverse diet and new textiles from animals, and racial diversity.

Cash Crops

Crops grown for sale rather than sustenance, like sugar and tobacco.

What were the negative environmental impacts of the Columbian exchange in the Americas and why did they occur?

Deforestation occurred because Europeans used land intensively and cut trees to clear areas for settlements and crops, soil depletion occurred because Europeans created large fields that they cultivated the same way every year, and strained water resources and concentrated pollution occurred because Europeans lived in densely populated communities.

What were the environmental impacts of the Columbian exchange on the Western Hemisphere?

Deforestation, soil depletion from growing the same crops, overgrazing by animals, soil erosion from overgrazing, spread of diseases through animals and people, racial diversity, and deaths among native populations.

Which non-food animals did Europe bring to the Americas, and what effect did they have on Native American culture?

Europeans brought horses, which allowed Native Americans to hunt buffalo more efficiently, allowing a surplus of food which gave them more time for other pursuits like art and spirituality.

Which foods were introduced to the Americas from Europe and vice versa?

Europeans brought pigs, cows, wheat, and grapes to the Americas, and brought back maize, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peppers, and cacao to Europe, which led to population growth in Europe.

How did disease spread to the Americas?

Face-to-face contact and disease-carrying animals like insects and rats brought measles, influenza, and malaria.

Why were Native Americans so affected by smallpox and other European diseases?

Prior to the arrival of Columbus, Native Americans had been completely isolated from Europeans and European diseases and therefore had no immunity to them. As a result, 50 to 90 percent of native populations died.

Conquistadores

Spanish soldiers like Pizarro and Cortes who brought smallpox to the Americas.

Engenhos

The Portuguese term for sugar cane plantations. They were called "engines" because they produced so much sugar. They had horrible working conditions like poor nutrition, lack of shelter, tropical heat, and disease, so 5 to 10% of slaves on engenhos died each year.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

The trading of slaves from Africa to the Americas, where they often worked on sugar plantations.

How did Portugal's success with cash crop cultivation motivate Spain and impact trade?

When Spain noticed Portugal's success, they returned to the Caribbean to pursue cash crop cultivation. Sugar soon became even more profitable than silver for European empires.