o Overview
-> Hemispheric contact
-> Epidemics and population
-> Animals and landscapes
o Hemispheric contact
-> Voyages after 1492 sustained links across the Atlantic.
-> The Columbian Exchange moved organisms between hemispheres.
-> Ships carried crops, livestock, microbes, and disease vectors.
-> Settlers deliberately imported familiar foods and animals.
-> Mosquitoes spread malaria; rats also crossed on ships.
-> Colonization made these transfers repeated and far-reaching.
o Epidemics and population
-> Smallpox and measles spread into Indigenous communities.
-> Many Americans lacked prior exposure to these pathogens.
-> Epidemics caused catastrophic losses in many regions.
-> Warfare, forced labor, and hunger worsened population loss.
-> Deaths disrupted farming, leadership, and community defense.
-> Unequal disease effects aided conquest but did not ensure it.
o Animals and landscapes
-> Europeans brought horses, pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats.
-> Horses transformed transport and some Indigenous warfare.
-> Cattle expanded ranching and supplied meat, hides, and tallow.
-> Livestock grazing damaged some Indigenous fields and habitats.
-> Introduced species changed land use and ecological balances.
o Overview
-> American foods abroad
-> Crops in the Americas
-> Plantations and forced migration
o American foods abroad
-> Maize, potatoes, and cassava spread into Afro-Eurasia.
-> Potatoes supplied calories on small plots in parts of Europe.
-> Cassava and maize became important foods in parts of Africa.
-> Maize and sweet potatoes expanded cultivation in China.
-> Tomatoes and chilies changed cuisines across many regions.
-> New foods supported population growth unevenly over time.
o Crops in the Americas
-> Europeans introduced wheat, citrus, bananas, and sugarcane.
-> Wheat supplied settlers and expanded commercial farming.
-> Sugarcane became a major Caribbean and Brazilian cash crop.
-> Cash crops were grown for sale to Europe and the Middle East.
-> Enslaved Africans brought food knowledge and farming skills.
-> African foodways included okra and rice-growing expertise.
o Plantations and forced migration
-> Export demand encouraged large plantations and land clearing.
-> Sugar cultivation and processing demanded intensive labor.
-> Colonists coerced Indigenous labor and enslaved Africans.
-> Atlantic slave trading forcibly relocated African communities.
-> Profits, policy, and population losses shaped labor choices.