Columbian Exchange, Commercial Revolution, Mercantilism Notes

Columbus initiated a significant global exchange.
This exchange involved plants, animals, people, technology, and diseases.
New foods were introduced to Europe from the Americas, including tomatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, squash, beans, pineapples, peppers, tobacco, and cacao (chocolate).
Corn and potatoes were particularly impactful.
Asia and Africa also participated in the Columbian Exchange through the introduction of new foods.
From Europe to the Americas came wheat, melons, grapes, rice, barley, peaches, pears, and olives.
Europeans brought bananas, sugar cane, coconut palms, and coffee beans from Asia and Africa.
Europeans introduced horses, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, sheep, and honey bees to the Americas.
Diseases such as smallpox, influenza, measles, and malaria were brought to the Americas by Europeans.
Syphilis was transmitted from the Americas.
The diagram illustrates goods exchanged between North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. For example:
- From Americas to Europe, Africa, and Asia: Squash, Pumpkins, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Corn, Peanuts, Turkeys, Beans, Vanilla, Cacao, Pineapples, Tobacco, Peppers
- From Europe, Africa, and Asia to Americas: Honeybees, Sugar Cane, Bananas, Grapes, Citrus Fruits, Onions, Olives, Turnips, Livestock (Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Horses), Grains (Wheat, Rice, Barley, Oats), Coffee Beans, Pears, Peaches, Diseases (Smallpox, Influenza, Typhus, Measles, Malaria, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough)

Economic changes led to inflation, characterized by a rapid increase in prices due to a sharp rise in the money supply.
Causes of inflation:
- Population growth increased the demand for goods and services.
- Scarcity of goods led to price increases, reflecting the law of supply and demand.
- Increased flow of silver and gold into Europe from the Americas increased the money in circulation.
Expanded trade and the pursuit of overseas empires stimulated the growth of capitalism, where money is invested to generate profit.
Entrepreneurs emerged as new business figures willing to take business risks to make a profit, expanding into overseas ventures.
These ventures were risky due to piracy and shipwrecks.
Capitalists developed innovative methods for wealth creation.
Methods adapted from Arabs included bookkeeping practices to track profits and losses.
Insurance was developed to mitigate the risk of financial loss.
Joint-stock companies enabled individuals to pool capital for investment in overseas ventures.
Partnerships were formed to reduce individual investment risk.
Capitalists diversified their investments.
The putting-out system (domestic system) was developed, where goods were produced in the countryside.

Mercantilism is an economic system that emphasizes exporting more than a country imports.
A country should not buy from its enemies.
Wealth is measured by commodities, especially gold and silver, rather than productivity and income-producing investments.
The goal is national self-sufficiency, making colonies crucial to the mother country.
- Colonies provide raw materials.
- Colonies serve as closed markets for the mother country’s manufactured goods.
- The economy is regulated.
- Nations impose tariffs, which are taxes on imports.