The Columbian Exchange
Subject:
World History [1]
The Columbian Exchange - The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.
Demographic Changes
- The people of the new world had low immunity to diseases from the old world which increased death rates among Americans.
- According to an estimate, in the century that preceded Hernán Cortés's reign in 1521, the population of natives went from more than 13 million to 700,000.
- In that same century, the maya population decreased approximately 75%.
- Inca fell from 9 million to 600,000.
- After Portuguese arrival, Brazil's natives went to under 1 million after being at around 2.5 million before.
- Smallpox, which arrived in 1518, was the most deadly.