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The Columbian Exchange is the vast transfer of plants, animals, diseases and people between the Americas and the rest of the world that followed Columbus's voyage of 1492. Potatoes, maize and tomatoes crossed the Atlantic eastwards; horses, wheat, smallpox and millions of enslaved Africans were carried west.

Alfred W. Crosby, The Columbian Exchange, 1972

TradeFoodHistoryBiologyMigration

The story behind the card

The historian Alfred W. Crosby gave the process its name in his 1972 book The Columbian Exchange. American crops changed diets across the Old World: potatoes helped Europe's population grow, maize became a staple in much of Africa, and chilli peppers reached India and Korea. In the other direction, horses transformed life on the North American plains, and cattle, sugar cane and wheat remade American landscapes. The heaviest cost fell on Indigenous Americans. Smallpox, measles and other diseases they had never met killed a large share of the population within decades, and the plantation economy that followed drove the forced transport of millions of enslaved Africans.

Türkçe oku
Kolomb takası, Kristof Kolomb'un 1492 yolculuğundan sonra bitkilerin, hayvanların, hastalıkların ve insanların Amerika ile dünyanın geri kalanı arasında büyük çapta yer değiştirmesidir. Patates, mısır ve domates Atlantik'i doğuya geçti; atlar, buğday, çiçek hastalığı ve köleleştirilen milyonlarca Afrikalı batıya taşındı.
Alfred W. Crosby, The Columbian Exchange, 1972

Sürece adını tarihçi Alfred W. Crosby, 1972'de yayımlanan The Columbian Exchange adlı kitabıyla verdi. Amerika'dan gelen ürünler Eski Dünya'nın sofrasını değiştirdi: Patates Avrupa'da nüfusun artmasına katkıda bulundu, mısır Afrika'nın büyük bölümünde temel besin oldu, acı biber Hindistan'a ve Kore'ye ulaştı. Öteki yönde atlar Kuzey Amerika ovalarındaki yaşamı baştan değiştirdi; sığır, şeker kamışı ve buğday Amerika'nın toprağını dönüştürdü. En ağır bedeli Amerika'nın yerli halkları ödedi. Daha önce hiç karşılaşmadıkları çiçek hastalığı, kızamık ve başka salgınlar birkaç on yıl içinde nüfusun büyük bölümünü öldürdü. Ardından kurulan plantasyon ekonomisi, milyonlarca Afrikalının köle olarak zorla taşınmasına yol açtı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Columbian exchange
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