Columbian Exchange

The Western Hemisphere—the Americas—has for many thousands of years been separated from the rest of the world by two great oceans. This has meant that its plants, animals, and even bacteria and viruses evolved differently. Columbus’s voyage thus inaugurated an exchange, as plants and animals native to the Americas (such as corn and turkeys) were transmitted to the “Old World,” and those from Europe, Africa, or Asia (bananas and horses) found their way to the Americas. The intersection of two worlds also resulted in an exchange of technologies and diseases.