The Columbian Exchange: Crash Course

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Video

John Horgan
by CrashCourse
published on 25 May 2021

In which John Green teaches you about the changes wrought by contact between the Old World and the New. John does this by exploring the totally awesome history book "The Columbian Exchange" by Alfred Cosby, Jr. After Columbus "discovered" the Americas, European conquerors, traders, and settlers brought all manner of changes to the formerly isolated continents. Disease and invasive plant and animal species remade the New World, usually in negative ways. While native people, plants, and animals were being displaced in the Americas, the rest of the world was benefitting from American imports, especially foods like maize, tomatoes, potatoes, pineapple, blueberries, sweet potatoes, and manioc. Was the Columbian Exchange a net positive? It's debatable. So debate.

Resources:

The Columbian Exchange, by Alfred Cosby, Jr: http://dft.ba/-columbian

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Cite This Work

APA Style

CrashCourse. (2021, May 25). The Columbian Exchange: Crash Course. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/video/2515/the-columbian-exchange-crash-course/

Chicago Style

CrashCourse. "The Columbian Exchange: Crash Course." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified May 25, 2021. https://www.worldhistory.org/video/2515/the-columbian-exchange-crash-course/.

MLA Style

CrashCourse. "The Columbian Exchange: Crash Course." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 25 May 2021. Web. 26 Jul 2024.

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