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The Columbian Exchange I. Introduction: A. What was the Columbian Exchange? -Global trade routes, before and after 1492 -intercontinental movement of plants, animals, and microbes, both intentional and unintentional B. Significance of the Columbian Exchange? -recent influential interpretations -Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 (1986) -Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (1999). II. What got exchanged, what happened and who benefited?-some specifics A. Plants —useful exchanges in both directions; --role of corn, potatoes in European/Asian/ and African societies especially important --many unintentional exchanges B. Animals -sheep (ex. Valle del Mezquital): “ecological release” - horses in the Americas - benefits and costs for Native Americans -changing balance of power among groups (Comanche, Sioux benefit) C. Disease -Old World—more infectious disease -smallpox most important -introduced 1518 in Hispaniola; -1518-1528: first smallpox pandemic in New World -also: measles, cholera, influenza, typhoid, bubonic plague, malaria, yellow fever - Very high mortality among Native Americans compared to Europeans -no “aquired immunity” (smallpox) -other stressors -Natives had no practical experience with these diseases and how to cure them -estimating Native American mortality -- Assessing the historical significance of disease vis-à-vis other factors —another example: bubonic plague in Europe --population recovery in this case the limits of environmental/biological factors as an explanation for what happened in the Americas --also need to consider: (1) European policies and practices; (2) Native American responses --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) III. Conclusion: A. Hybrid Landscapes B. “Environmental determinism” and its limits as an historical explanation (single- versus multi-causal explanations)