Which of These Things Came from the Americas?
Which of the following staple crops came to the Old World during the Columbian Exchange?
- Things like white potatoes and sweet potatoes were actually not grown outside of South America prior to 1500!
A variety of less caloric foods traveled from the Americas to the Old World, including which of the following?
- The New World provided tomatoes to Europe through trade with Spain, where they quickly became popular in Italy.
The Americas provided a medical breakthrough that helped Europeans fight a common disease that plagued adventurers trying to explore tropical locations. What was it called?
- Malaria was a common and problematic disease for European populations, but the discovery of quinine in the Americas proved to be an effective treatment for it.
Several types of large animals were brought from the New World to the Old World, thanks to Christoper Columbus, including which one of the following?
- Alpacas were transferred from the Americas for their food and wool, as well as for transportation uses throughout Europe.
What type of fowl indigenous to the Americas was brought back to Europe around 1500?
- Along with Muscovy ducks, Canada geese, and ruddy ducks, turkeys were brought across to feed Europeans and populate the area.
Sadly, food and useful supplies were not the only things transmitted from the Americas to Europe, and vice versa. Several diseases were also passed between the two landmasses, including which one of the following?
- Chagas disease is a parasitic illness also called American trypanosomiasis, spread by insects. It was not present in the Old World until then, but the amount of sickness (including smallpox) brought to the Americas and the people there far outnumbered it.
What kinds of weed made its way from the Americas to Europe, thanks to Columbian expeditions?
- Tumbleweeds were one of the weeds transmitted between the continents, along with other invasive plants like wild oats.
What was one of the largest cash crops being traded between the New World and the Old World when Columbus started bringing it back?
- While sugar was held at the greatest value, tobacco was next on the list of trade worth, as it was actually unknown to Europeans prior to 1493. Cacao was also a high-quality trade item.
When it came to the transmission of cultivated fungi, the Americas provided at least one of the most popular mushrooms that still exist today. Do you know its name?
- While some varieties of oyster mushrooms did exist in Europe and Asia, the fungi found in the Americas provided many further varieties of this classic and delicious mushroom.
Which of the following cultivated plants were brought to Europe from the New World, thanks to explorers?
- The symbiotic trade relationship that existed between the New and Old Worlds included many, many types of cultivated plants that expanded food varieties a great deal for people living in each location.
