The Story of Christopher Columbus and the “Columbian Exchange”
Since 1971, the second Monday in October, known officially in the United States code of laws as Columbus Day, has been a federal holiday for all federal government employees. In 1998, the Congress, with President Bill Clinton’s signature, enacted a law requesting that, on Columbus Day, the President issue a proclamation each year “inviting the people of the United States to observe Columbus Day, in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies that express the public sentiment befitting the anniversary of the discovery of America.”
On Columbus Day in 2021, Kamala Harris divisively opined that “European explorers ushered in a wave of devastation, violence, stealing land, and widespread disease.” It is true that, once these two groups of humans reunited, there was quite a bit of chaos, but such narrow opinion farcically omits that indigenous people in the Americas constantly warred with each other over resources and power and, in some instances, engaged in human sacrifice prior to the arrival of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Kamala’s myopic and one-sided woke view of Columbus Day also omits the rich world history surrounding the accidental discovery of the Americas in 1492 by Christopher Columbus and the “Columbian Exchange” which occurred thereafter which we celebrate each year.
The Columbian Exchange
The story of the Columbian Exchange does not begin in 1492 as Kamala asserts but rather 30,000 years ago during Pleistocene Era. The most common theory regarding the ancient migration from Asia to America holds that approximately 30,000 years ago a land bridge existed between modern-day Russia and Alaska, called Beringia, which is now covered by the Bering Sea. This theory posits that humans from ancient China and Russian made their way across this land bridge until about 16,500 years ago. At such time when the ice age ended, massive amounts of water flooded the oceans as the Earth’s glaciers melted. With the rising sea levels, Beringia was overcome by the seas and the western hemisphere at its new inhabitants were cut off from the eastern hemisphere for thousands of years until the arrival of Europeans in the second millennium.
Alfred Crosby, a Harvard University and Boston University educated professor who combined the studies of history, biology, and geography in his writings, demonstrates the vast interactions directly resulting from such “first contact” in his book The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Crosby demonstrates that, while the obvious exchange between the Old World and the New World is its people going back and forth, such a view, which focuses only on the bodies of the people, is very narrow and omits the exchange of the culture of the peoples and the massive biological transfer between the Old and New World. In his book, Crosby characterizes this “Columbian Exchange” as the greatest biological transfer since the Ice Age.
Massive Exchange of People and Biology between Old and New World
The Columbian biological transfer can be described as three inter-related parts as follows: animals, plants, and pathogens. While it is true that this biological transfer occurred in both directions, from Europe to America and vice versa, it is fair to say that most of significant biological transfer went from Old World to New World. A multitude of foods, domesticated animals, wild animals, weeds, and pathogens made the voyage from Europe. Some of these transfers were intentional such as the introduction of pigs to the New World, and some of these transfers were unintentional such as the introduction of European rats to the Caribbean.
During the 16th century as the Spanish expanded across the Americas, the exchange of plants to and from America was well on its way. Of note are a few items that had enormous significance on both Europe and the Americas. Sugar cane is not indigenous to the Americas; sugar cane was introduced by the Europeans as a moneymaking venture due to the perfect climate for cultivation of the sweet cane. Surprisingly also coffee is not indigenous to the Americas. The coffee bean was transferred from Europe to the west. In addition, tobacco was transferred from America to the Old World as well. In particular, tobacco and sugar were staple products of the Americas for over two centuries and helped reshape the Atlantic World. All told, tomatoes, pineapple, avocados, peppers, and corn made their way to the Old World, while olives, bananas, grapes, and onions made their way to the Americas.
Prior to the arrival of Columbus, commonly domesticated animals such as rabbits, goats, pigs, and cattle were non-existent in the New World. These domesticated animals were brought by the colonists/conquerors as sustenance. It is said that upon their arrival in the Caribbean, pigs and cattle that escaped captivity on the islands became wild herds too numerous to count. While the importation of domesticated animals was intentional by the colonists, introduction of the European rat was an unintentional transfer from Europe to the New World which had devastating effects on the islands. The rats on these islands had no natural predators and bred so quickly and so feverishly that they overtook some of the islands. The colonists then introduced the turkey to the Old World.
Exchange of Pathogens
While the transfer of plants and animals to and from the Old World and the New World is significant, the most significant transfer to the lives of the natives in the New World were the pathogens and diseases that the Old World travelers brought with them. With the end of the ice age, the western hemisphere had been cut off from the eastern hemisphere for thousands of years. During this time span, the diseases of smallpox (and malaria to a lesser extent) went through the populations of the Old World while syphilis went through the population of the natives in the New World.
In addition to measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, typhus, and malaria which the Old World travelers brought to the New World, smallpox came with them. From before the birth of Christ and even during the time of the ancient Egyptians, smallpox intermittently decimated European and Asian populations. Because smallpox was common in Europe, the population developed a “herd immunity” which created a strength for the Europeans against the smallpox virus. When the smallpox virus was inadvertently introduced into the population in the western hemisphere (a population that had never experienced smallpox or had the ability or chance to develop herd immunity), smallpox ravaged the New World. It is estimated that 90% of the native Americans were killed by the disease.
In 1492, when “Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” he likely brought syphilis to the Old World upon his return. The first outbreak of syphilis occurred during the Renaissance in 1495 among the French army when King Charles VIII invaded Naples. One theory suggests that Christopher Columbus and his crew acquired the disease from sexual relations with the natives of Hispaniola and brought it back with them. It is posited that some of the soldiers that went with Columbus to the New World, upon their return, went with King Charles VIII and laid siege on Naples in 1495. Likely these camp soldiers had sexual relations with prostitutes nearby causing an explosion of the disease in the camp. After the siege, these mercenaries went throughout Europe. By 1497 the disease had reached Russia. By 1498 the disease was in Africa, the Middle East, India, and by 1505, in China.
As stated previously the Columbian Exchange was arguably one of the most massive transverse of biology since the Pleistocene Era. The transfer of biology, even a small is dandelions and weeds from the Old World to the New World fundamentally changed the planet. From the scotch broom in California, to the dandelions in Virginia, to the Kentucky bluegrass of the State of Kentucky, not even one of these species is indigenous to the western hemisphere. It is this rich history and this exchange of people and biology that we celebrate on Columbus Day and about which our leaders should read before making ideologically charged statements.
Sources
Ancient History Encyclopedia. “Leif Erikson.” Accessed April 4, 2020. https://www.ancient.eu/Leif_Erikson.
Crosby Jr., Alfred W. The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2003.
Las Casas, Bartolome. “Columbus Arrives in the ‘Indies,’ October 11, 1492.” In Major Problems in Atlantic History, edited by Alison F. Games and Adam Rothman, 33-34. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2008.
Nunn, Nathan and Qian, Nancy. “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 24, no. 2 (Spring 2010): 163–88. https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/qian/resources/NunnQianJEP.pdf.
Scientific American. “Case Closed? Columbus Introduced Syphilis to Europe?” Accessed April 4, 2020. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/case-closed-columbus.
WorldAtlas.com. “How Far is Russia from Alaska?” Accessed April 4, 2020. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-far-is-russia-from-alaska.html.
