The Columbian Exchange

Which American crops became staple foods in European, Asian, and African diets?

Potatoes (Europe), sweet potatoes (China), and maize/corn meal (all Afro-Eurasia) dominated diets

Europeans also began large-scale plantations projects in their colonies for?

Cash crops (tobacco, coffee, & sugar)

Which domesticated animals came to the Americas?

Horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle

African slaves also brought what?

Rice and okra

A system developed and implemented by the 17th and 18th centuries

Triangular Trade (aka the Atlantic System)

What was the cycle of the Atlantic System?

Buy slaves from African kingdoms, send them to work in plantations in the New World, then send the goods to Europe for consumption, sale, and later - production

Why was slave labor incredibly important to European empire profit?

Since most American goods were farmed or mined

The Portuguese often purchased slaves from West African kingdoms and shipped them along what?

The Middle Passage

What was the Middle Passage?

A treacherous and miserable journey across the Atlantic

Where were slaves mostly sold to?

To European plantation owners-mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean

Some Europeans were also brought over as what and paid for their trip with hard labor?

Indentured servants

Why did people come over as 'indentured servants'?

To escape from poor European conditions

While the Spanish initially use the Incan mit'a system already in place, why did it come to an end?

Native American populations quickly dwindled

Spanish silver and triangular trade created what?

The first truly global trade network

The biggest impacts on the Old World from exchange was?

An increase in overall wealth and population

Europeans began to not only control trade, but from the Americas, they now had what?

Goods to fight over and sell

How was the food from the Americas different from the old world?

Was far more diverse and calorie-dense

What did more diverse and calorie-dense food lead to?

Population boom throughout Afro-Eurasia

One of the negatives of this exchange was what?

Introduced the enslavement of Native Americans and Africans for large-scale plantation work

European-style agriculture caused what?

Mass deforestation and soil depletion

What precent of the Native American population died upon first exposure to all diseases such as smallpox and measles?

Nearly 90%

What are Europeans born in Spain/Portugal called?

Peninsulares

What are Europeans born in the Americas called?

Creoles

What are European and American Indian mix?

Mestizos

What are Europe and African mix?

Mulattos

What are American Indian and African mix?

Zambos

What were rewards to Europeans/conquerors in the New World in which they were given control of the people and land in a particular area?

Encomiendas

What were the lords who earned land grants from the King due to their service and conquest with Native Americans as their vassals?

Encomienderas

On these encomiendas, American Indians, slaves, and indentured servants worked on what?

Haciendas

What were haciendas?

Individual plantations, mines, etc., on encomiendas

What did the Spanish employ to determine ones social mobility based almost solely on the color of one's skin?

A racial caste system

While both 'white,' who were seen as 'superior' as their birth and culture came directly from Europe?

Peninsulares

Peninsulares being seen as superior caused what?

Class tensions that would later result in revolutionary movements in the 19th century

Where did the Spanish discover HORDES of silver?

In Peru, Mexico, and Nevada

Copying the Incans, the Spanish adopted what?

The mit'a system and required peasant male natives to work the silver mines

The Spanish had no idea how to handle what?

Inflation or their taxes (not adjusted for inflation)

The Spanish used silver to do what?

Fund many wars in Europe

Name European wars funded by the Spanish?

The invasion of the Dutch Republic, Thirty Years War, and funding Catholic forces in France and vs. the Ottoman Turks

What was one of the first desirable European commodities in Asian markets?

Spanish silver

Spanish silver was used to purchase what?

Luxury goods such as tea, silk, porcelain, or spices

Where was the only previous large source of silver in Asia was from?

Japan

What would initially provide Spain with a great amount of economic and military power?

Control of the silver trade

What would lead to the decline of Spain in the 17th century?

Mismanagement of taxes, overspending on foreign wars, and silver inflation

What dynasty did itself in during the Early Modern Era through mismanaged spending and a disastrous silver-only tax policy?

The Ming Dynasty

Why did the Ming essentially abandon their maritime ambitions?

Commercial detriment

What did the Ming focus on instead of maritime ambitions?

Focused on combating and defending their northern borders against the remnants of Mongol and other pastoral invaders

In order to fund these expeditions and defense systems, what did the Ming do?

Resorted to exclusively collecting mandatory taxes in the form of silver- something many peasants didn't have

What was a result of the silver tax?

Most Chinese peasants and workers were forced to make luxury goods Europeans would pay silver for

Due to most Chinese workers being pushed to make luxury goods, what happened?

-Too much silk and tea was made, and its value plummeted, resulting in luxury good price deflation

-A loss of currency value

-Overall less production of non-luxury necessities such as food and iron

With a surplus of luxury goods, peasants had to do what?

Charge less and less silver in order to sell these goods