The Exchange of Products Project

Directions: With a partner, you will read and complete

the following questions about Triangular Trade and the
Columbian Exchange. This will count as a project grade.
You will be given access to one computer per group.
Please turn in one set of answers per group (make sure
both names are on the answers). You must answer each
question in complete sentences! This will count as a
Test grade. Groups are not allowed to work with other
groups. If this is seen, you may be given a zero for
this grade. Please write your answers on a piece of
notebook paper. You will turn this in when you are
complete.
Introduction: Until Christopher Columbus completed his voyage to America in 1492, the
continents of North and South America were completely isolated from Europe and Asia. In
fact, Europeans did not even know that the American continents existed. (Columbus, literally,
just ran into them.)
One of the most important results of this accident is something that has come to be called
the Columbian Exchange. It involved the transfer of food, plants, animals, and diseases across
the continents. People in the Americas, Europe, and eventually Africa and Asia were greatly
affected by this exchange. It brought the eastern and western hemispheres together in a way
that transformed the world.
The Columbian Exchange is named after Christopher Columbus. However, historians did not
begin to refer to it as such until the 1970s. In recent decades, many people have begun to
question whether Columbus should be hailed as a hero for his "discovery" of America. They
note the destruction that Spanish conquerors brought to Native American societies. Millions
died from forced labor, war, and especially disease. Since 1992, the 500th anniversary of
Columbus' voyages, the historical emphasis has shifted from the arrival to the Columbian
Exchange, a global transfer with more long-term significance.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/columbian-exchange

1.

How would your daily life be different if you lived in the Americas today and the Columbian
Exchange never occurred? Use the charts on this website to explain your answer.

http://public.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site19/
2. Select 1 plant from the list on this website. Conduct a google search to determine the origin
of the plant that you chose. A good search query could be origin of corn or origin of
sweet potato. You can use your favorite search engine to conduct the search.

3. Select 1 animal from the list and determine the origins of each.

4. Select 1 disease and determine the origins of the disease. Then describe the effects of
the disease.

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/essays/columbian.htm
5.

Name and describe 2 examples of exchange between the old and new world that are
described in this article.

6. What products were sent from Africa to the new world (America)?
7. What products came from the new world (America)?
8. What products did Europe produce and where did they go?
9. Why were slaves shipped to the new world?

http://www.shmoop.com/columbian-exchange/
10. Why was it called the Columbian Exchange?
11. Explain 2 reasons why you should care about the Columbian Exchange.

http://www.shmoop.com/columbian-exchange/photos.html
12. Choose a picture from the gallery and explain what the picture is about.

13. Who do you think benefitted the most from the Columbian Exchange? America, Europe, or
Africa? Why? Give AT LEAST 4 reasons why this continent benefitted the most. Please
use all of the information you looked through above the answer this questions.