The Columbian Exchange

What was responsible for the deaths of so many Huron and Iroquois people in the 17th century?

• A campaign of terror coordinated between Spanish and British colonists

• The volcanic explosion of Algonquin Peak in the Adirondacks

• The smallpox virus

Served cold and frothy by the Mesoamerican elite, which New World beverage began a craze in Europe that coincided with the growing European desire for sugar?

• Chocolate

• Coffee

• Tea

Which group of foods originated in the New World?

• Oranges, olives, tea, and herring

• Corn, chocolate, tomatoes, and potatoes

• Spinach, cabbage, rice, and sugarcane

Let’s say you’re an Englishman of the planter class in 17th-century Virginia. How would you grow tobacco if you were cultivating it as a cash crop?

• I’d grow tobacco in conjunction with beans, to refresh the soil and keep from exhausting the land

• B

  I’d grow nothing but tobacco and prepare it for export

"Colón [Columbus] and his crew did not voyage alone. They were accompanied by a menagerie of insects, plants, mammals, and microorganisms . . . European expeditions brought cattle, sheep, and horses, along with crops like sugarcane (originally from New Guinea), wheat (from the Middle East), bananas (from Africa), and coffee (also from Africa) . . . "

-From Charles C. Mann, historian, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, 2011.

Mann describes several commodities that were taken from Europe and Africa to the Americas. Which of the following were taken from the Americas to Europe?

• Apples and peaches

• Dogs and cats

• Sheep and cattle

• Gold and silver

Which of the following does this image most likely depict?

• Spanish women who were dying at unprecedented rates from the Bubonic Plague

• Native Americans who gave smallpox to Spanish conquistadores upon their arrival in the New World

• Native Americans suffering from microbial diseases introduced by Spanish conquistadores

• Spanish conquistadores’ wives, who were infected with smallpox in the New World