Question:

What animals and vegetable Cristobal Colon brought to america in his journey?

by Guest57177  |  earlier

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What animals and vegetable Cristobal Colon brought to america in his journey?

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  1. On early sailing ships a few live animals were carried as a food source. Generally they were eaten after a few weeks. Columbus's first voyage took two months so no live animals reached the New World. The rest of the food:

    "The menu for Spanish seamen consisted of water, vinegar, wine, olive oil, molasses, cheese, honey, raisins, rice, garlic, almonds, sea biscuits (hardtack), dry legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, beans, salted and barreled sardines, anchovies, dry salt cod and pickled or salted meats (beef and pork), salted flour. The olive oil and perhaps olives were stored in earthenware jugs."

    http://www.ghphotography.org/first_voyag...

    As you can see no fresh food or crop seeds would have been on board.

    You're no doubt asking about what's called the "Colombian Exchange." This is the exchange of the crops, animals and resources that went between the New and Old World.

    From the Americas came peppers, maize, potatoes, tomatoes, snap beans, lima, beans, and squash. Maize and potatoes became staple crops throughout Europe. So much so that the Irish potato crop failed, the result was famine.

    From Europe, to the Americas came wheat, rye, barley, oats and millet. The first two crops are used in bread, a mainstay today.

    The horse was a European import. When adopted by the Native Americans, the result was the Great Plains cultures.

    The Americans produced vast amounts of gold and silver. However the material was obtained, the amount imported to Europe made economies based on money possible. This allowed more trade.

    Having somewhere to go and new opportunities invigorated Europe. People could now seek their fortune or get a fresh start. Having a destination also increased technological development of deep ocean ships.

    There is a dark side to the exchange. When Europeans first came to the Americas they inadvertently introduced a number of diseases. These included forms of Tuberculosis, measles, cholera, typhus, and smallpox. Oh all the exchanges between the Native Americans and the Europeans, disease had the most impact.

    Native Americans had little immunity to any of these imported diseases. The migration route into the Americas had been through arctic regions. The cold acted as a "filter" preventing some diseases from entering. During their thousands of years of isolation, the inhabitants of the Americas had avoided the disease that swept through the rest of the world. However, this also meant that they had no immunity, protection from these same illnesses.


  2. Two of each kind...

    He was a descendant of Noah!

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