Columbian Exchange and the Atlantic Slave Trade

Today we are looking at how choices made by Europeans fundamentally changed Europe and the Americas.

In the first video we will look at what scholars call the Columbian Exchange. It encompasses the exchange of plants and animals, diseases, and ideas. As you watch identify the positive and negative exchanges. How important were they to the Americas? How important were they to Europe?

The second video is on the importation of kidnapped Africans to the Americas to be slaves. This, along with the attempted genocide of the indigenous peoples of the America, is the most shameful act of the European colonists of the Americas and later of the citizens of the United States. 

EQ:

• What were some of the effects of the Columbian Exchange on Europe and the Americas?
• Understand the inhumanity of the transatlantic slave trade.

Engage:

•  None

Explore:

• The Columbian Exchange: Crash Course (12:08)
• Atlantic Slave Trade: Crash Course  (11:07)

Explain:

• What foods did Europe gain from the Americas?
• What diseases were transferred from Europe to the Americas? 
• What diseases were transferred from the Americas to Europe?
• How many Africans were forcibly moved to the Americas?
• What was the life expectancy of a kidnapped African in a British Colony in the 1700's?

Evaluate:

•  Student Worksheets

Extend

• Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes