Define the Columbian exchange and provide a brief summary of the ways this process connected the Old World (continents of Africa and Eurasia) and the New World (the American continent) through the exchange of food and diseases.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus began his voyage to the Americas and started The Columbian Exchange, which is the exchange of diseases, resources, ideas and people between the Old World and the New World. The Old World consisted of the Eastern Hemisphere which included Italy, Greece and other Mediterranean countries. The New World was America and the Western Hemisphere. The Columbian Exchange had both positive and negative impacts to both the Old World and the New World. For example, the Old World gained new crops, such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, maize, cassava , chili pepper, cacao, peanuts, and pineapples. These were used to make dishes in the Old World countries such as Italy, India, and Thailand. In addition, there were uncultivated land that was used for crops
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These crops are able to grow in a wide variety of climates in the Old World during different seasons. They provided essential nutrients and needed calories to the population. For example potatoes brought the largest impact due to its high amount of nutrients and there were enough for the whole family. It increased the population growth. Sweet potatoes are also highly consumed in countries such as Rwanda, Uganda and China, while corn (maize) was popular in Lesotho, Zambia and Malawi. It provided resources for millions of people as it quickly grew. Cassava also provided nutrients and calories after being properly processed and was popular throughout Africa and the Old World. It provided the most calories than any other plant. Along with the staples foods, new spices such as chili peppers, cacao and vanilla were widely adopted around the