The Columbian Exchange was a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New World and the Old World. Christopher Columbus when he was out on his second voyage in 1493 had introduced new things to each place. All different things were being traded and new ideas had came about. Plants, diseases, and technology were some of the ideas that were exchanged during the Columbian Exchange.
Plants were one of the items exchanged during the Columbian Exchange. Plants such as beans, squash, chili peppers, sunflowers, peanuts, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, avocado, and pineapple were exchanged, but the most important were sugarcane, maize, and potatoes. Sugarcane was introduced on Columbus second voyage to the America’s and was one of the largest cash crops in history. It still is one of the largest today too. Maize was a New World crop that was essential to the European diet and supported economies and sustained the population growth. Potatoes were also a New World crop that was essential to the European diet which was also food for the lower class too.
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Diseases had also been exchanged from the New World or from the Old World. People that were not used to the diseases would suffer immensely. The common Old World diseases were smallpox, measles, malaria, yellow fever, influenza, and chickenpox. The common New World diseases were syphilis, polio, hepatitis, and encephalitis. They had spread so quickly that in some instances, the Indians had become infected with the diseases before coming in contact with the Europeans. The most deadly disease was smallpox, commonly being misdiagnosed with other diseases. They had an effect on the world then and still have an effect on our world