Columbian Exchange facts for kids

Inca-era terraces on Taquile are used to grow traditional Andean food, like potatoes, along with wheat from Europe.

The Columbian Exchange was a huge exchange of plants, animals, ideas, and even diseases. It happened between the "Old World" (Europe, Africa, and Asia) and the "New World" (the Americas). This exchange started in 1492 when Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas. It changed life for people all over the world.

How the Exchange Changed Lives

The Columbian Exchange brought many new things to different parts of the world. These new items changed how people lived and what they ate.

• Potatoes: Before 1492, potatoes only grew in South America. They became a very important food in Ireland. So important, in fact, that when a potato disease hit in the 1840s, it caused the Irish Potato Famine. Many people had to leave Ireland or faced starvation.
• Horses: When horses came from Europe, Native American tribes on the Great Plains could travel much further. They also became much better at hunting bison while riding horses.
• Tomatoes: Italy is famous for its delicious Tomato sauce. But tomatoes originally came from the Americas!
• Coffee and Sugarcane: Coffee from Africa and sugarcane from Asia became major crops in Latin America. They were grown on very large farms called plantations.
• Chili Peppers: Chili and paprika came from South America. The Portuguese brought them to India. Now, they are a huge part of Indian cuisine.

Before this exchange, many common foods and animals were only found in one part of the world. For example, there were no oranges in Florida, no bananas in Ecuador, and no chocolate in Switzerland. Even the common dandelion flower was brought to the Americas by Europeans to use as an herb.

Diseases and Their Impact

The Old World had more domesticated animals and more diseases than the New World. When Europeans arrived, they brought diseases like smallpox. Native Americans had never been exposed to these illnesses. Sadly, diseases like smallpox killed many Native Americans.

The Columbian Exchange changed almost every part of the Earth. Very few places remained the same after this massive global connection.

What Was Exchanged?

Here is a look at some of the plants, animals, and diseases that were found in the Old World and New World before the Columbian Exchange.

Images for kids

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  New World native plants. Clockwise, from top left: 1. Maize (corn); 2. Tomato; 3. Potato; 4. Vanilla; 5. Rubber tree; 6. Cacao (for chocolate); 7. Tobacco.

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  Old World native plants. Clockwise, from top left: 1. Citrus fruits; 2. Apple; 3. Banana; 4. Mango; 5. Onion; 6. Coffee; 7. Wheat; 8. Rice.

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  People working on a tobacco farm in Virginia, depicted in 1670.

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  A figurine from the New World showing an early wheel. Even though wheeled toys were found, the wheel was not used for practical things in Mesoamerica until the 16th century.

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  Native Americans learned to use horses to chase bison, which helped them hunt over a much larger area.

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  Evangelization of Mexico.

See also

In Spanish: Intercambio colombino para niños