BEFORE YOU WATCH: The Columbian Exchange - Crash Course #23

Before you watch

While you watch

1. What effects did the Columbian Exchange have on the global biological landscape?
2. What were the demographic effects of the Columbian Exchange in the Americas?
3. In what context were Europeans able to take over Aztec and Inca lands?
4. How did animals from Afro-Eurasia impact the Americas?
5. Out of the four categories discussed—disease, animals, plants, and people—which had the biggest effect on Afro-Eurasia, according to John Green? What were some of those cultural and demographic effects?
6. Initially, the Columbian Exchange led to the decimation of the population of the Americas, mostly as a result of disease. How did this pattern of demographic decline change over time?
7. What were the principal global effects of the Columbian Exchange?

After you watch

1. Using evidence from the video, describe some of the causes of the Columbian Exchange and its effects on the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
2. While the Columbian Exchange arguably made the world more similar and connected, its effects were unevenly felt in different parts of the globe. Use evidence from this video to respond to the Unit Problem: “How did economic developments and new transoceanic connections affect social structures in different parts of the world from c. 1450 to 1750?”
3. At the end of the video, John Green poses the question: “Are longer, healthier lives for more humans worth the sacrifice of an impoverished biosphere? And most importantly, how will your conclusions about those questions shape the way that you live your life?” How might the patterns and trends presented in the video have importance for other studies, later history, or your life more generally?