Columbian Exchange: Colonization's Impact

• Colonization prompted voluntary and forced migration of millions of people.
• Colonization led to the establishment of new and powerful societies.
• Colonization of the Americas dramatically changed the world.
• Colonization resulted in the exchange of new items that greatly influenced the lives of people throughout the world.
• New wealth from the Americas resulted in new business and trade practices in Europe.

Columbian Exchange

• The Columbian Exchange refers to the global transfer of foods, plants, and animals during the colonization of the Americas.
• Ships from the Americas brought back items that Europeans, Asians, and Africans had never before seen.
• Items included plants such as tomatoes, squash, pineapples, tobacco, and cacao beans (for chocolate).
• The most important items to travel from the Americas to the rest of the world were corn and potatoes.
• Corn and potatoes were inexpensive to grow and nutritious.
• Potatoes supplied essential vitamins and minerals leading both crops to become staples in diets throughout the world.
• Traffic across the Atlantic flowed in both directions.
• Europeans introduced livestock animals into the Americas.
• Animals Included horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs.
• Europeans introduced bananas, black-eyed peas, and yams.
• Grains introduced to the Americas included wheat, rice, barley, and oats.
• Foods from Africa (including some that originated in Asia) migrated west in European ships.
• Some aspects of the Columbian Exchange had a tragic impact on many Native Americans due to disease.
• Diseases included smallpox and measles which led to the deaths of millions of Native Americans.
• Disease was just as much a part of the Columbian Exchange as goods and food.
• New wealth from the Americas was coupled with a dramatic growth in overseas trade.
• Promoted a wave of new business and trade practices in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
• These practices served as the root of today's financial dealings and dramatically changed the economic atmosphere of Europe.
• The establishment of colonial empires in the Americas influenced the nations of Europe in still other ways

Rise of Capitalism

• The European economic revolution included the growth of capitalism.
• Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership and the investment of resources, such as money, for profit.
• Overseas colonization and trade resulted in numerous merchants obtaining great wealth, not just governments.
• Merchants continued to invest their money in trade and overseas exploration.
• Profits from these investments enabled merchants and traders to reinvest even more money in other enterprises.

Joint-Stock Companies

• The joint-stock company developed as another business venture during this period.
• The joint-stock company worked much like the modern-day corporation, with investors buying shares of stock in a company.
• Joint-stock companies involved a number of people combining their wealth for a common purpose called American colonization.

Mercantilism

-European nations adopted mercantilism as a new economic policy.

• The theory of mercantilism held that a country's power depended mainly on its wealth.
• Wealth allowed nations to build strong navies and purchase vital goods.
• The goal of every nation became the attainment of as much wealth as possible.
• Under mercantilism, a nation could increase its wealth and power in two ways:
  • Obtain as much gold and silver as possible.
  • Establish a favorable balance of trade, in which it sold more goods than it bought.
• A nation's ultimate goal under mercantilism was to become self-sufficient, not dependent on other countries for goods.
• Colonies provided raw materials that could not be found in the home country, such as wood or furs.
• Aside from providing silver and gold, the colonies also provided a market.
• The home country could sell its goods to its colonies.