Question: Analyze how the discovery of the New World influenced
Europe from the 1450s to the 1700s
This document shows that the exploration to the New World led to new discoveries of food. We know this because there are Guinea Pigs from the New World intermixed with the barn animals from the old world. You can see that the Guinea Pigs dont belong because the arent known for being farm animals.
Source: Tobacco in Nicolas Monardes Joyfull Newes out of the New- founde World (1577)
Source: Guinea Pigs in the center of two seventeenth-century Dutch scenes: in the midst of a barnyard in a drawing by Jan Fyt (British Museum)
From the journal we can conclude that new plants were introduced. Tobacco was one of the plants that was introduced. From the picture, you can see how the plant would look in real life if you were to stumble upon it. You can also see that there is a description on what to use the plant for and how to prepare it.
From this map, we can conclude what the New World gained and what the Old World gained. This is important because it leads to the development of food and knowledge of plants and animals. Unfortunately it lead to diseases spreading and killing of many people.
Source: A very simplified view of the Columbian Exchange; for a more comprehensive discussion, go to the source: Alfred Crosby, The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492.
From this document, we can figure out that many spices were introduced to the Old World. We know that the trade that came from the New World to the Old World helped improve nutritional value and also help people live longer. We know that most of the new foods lead to better tasting foods. The Old World now has land to plant popular foods for themselves since they dont have room in Europe.
Food and plants play a key role in the development of Europe. First, the food lead to many improvements in health and taste. The food improved the way of life and more people ate the food because of its taste. Some countries in the Old World, like the Irish with their potatoes, went crazy with the new foods and added the foods to their staple crops. You could tell how much new food they were getting because some of the food would look like it didnt belong in Europe. Since they were getting so much new food, they started cultivating in the New World with plant thats were hard to grow in the Old World. The new plants were described in detail because if you didnt use the plants for their proper purpose, then you would get very ill and sometimes die. When they would describe the plants, they would draw a detailed sketch, identify the purpose, and identify the correct way of preparing it. When it came to plants, the Europeans had to be very careful. The discovery of the New World helped advance the knowledge of healthier foods and plants. Source: Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian, Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 24, Number 2Spring 2010Pages 163188 There are two channels through which the Columbian exchange expanded the global supply of agricultural goods. First, it introduced previously unknown species to the old world. Many of these species-like potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and cassava (also known as manioc)-resulted in caloric and nutritional improvements over previously existing staples. Other crops such as tomatoes, cacao, and chili peppers were not by themselves especially rich in calories, but complemented existing foods by increasing vitamin intake and improving taste. In many instances, the New World foods had an important effect on the evolution of local cuisines. Chili peppers gave rise to spicy curries in India, to paprika in Hungary, and to spicy kimchee in Korea. Tomatoes significantly altered the cuisine of Italy and other Mediterranean countries. Second, the discovery of the Americans provided the Old World with vast quantities of relatively unpopulated land well-suited for the cultivation of certain crops that were in high demand in Old World markets.