1. Your map will focus on three items: one plant or crop, one animal, and one disease. Choose one item from each category from the lists below.
Plant or Crop Animal Disease
potato
tomato
corn
wheat
coffee
tobacco
sugarcane
chili pepper
sweet potato
cacao (chocolate) horse
pig
turkey
cow
sheep
bee
smallpox
influenza
typhus
measles
malaria
whooping cough
cholera
2. Include the following information for each item on your map. To find this information, use the content from this course, the web links below, and any credible online sources you research on your own.
Place of origin
General dates of exchange
General exchange routes
Example of how at least one country or group of people was affected by the introduction of each plant or crop, animal, and disease
Web Links
"The Columbian Exchange," Explorations, Digital History
Journal of Economic Perspectives
(This is a long paper with a lot of useful information. You can search for a specific item by pressing Control+F and typing the word.)
New Worlds in the Americas, Lumen Learning
3. Use the map template below to create your map. Include the following on your map:
a. A title
b. Labels for each item (one plant/crop, one animal, and one disease) exchanged; use a different color for each item
c. The place of origin for each item
d. General dates of exchange for each item
e. General exchange routes for each item (that is, from Old World to New World, or from New World to Old World)
f. An example of how at least one country or group of people was affected by the introduction of each plant or crop, animal, and disease
Analyze
This section is worth 10 points. See the scoring rubric below for more details on how you will be graded.
Use your map and your general knowledge of the Columbian Exchange to answer the questions below.
1. Identify the disease you selected. Describe how it was exchanged and identify at least one specific long-term impact of the exchange.
2. Identify a food that was brought to a new country or continent through the Columbian Exchange. How did that food become a part of the cuisine of the new country or continent?
3. Identify an animal of the Columbian Exchange. What was the animal's origin, and how did it affect the culture and traditions of the place it was brought to?
4. How did the global trade resulting from the Columbian Exchange influence cultural developments in different parts of the world? Use a specific example in your answer.