Columbian Exchange (Biological Dimension)

Timeline

1. 1492–1519Caribbean and Hispaniola · CaribbeanColumbus and subsequent voyages brought European horses, cattle, pigs, chickens, wheat, and grapes to the Caribbean and Hispaniola, while returning to Europe with seeds of maize, cassava, chili peppers, and tobacco. Early exchange was limited in scale but its direction was established; colonial farms and mission stations served as experimental introduction points for Old World flora and fauna.
2. 1521–1530Valley of Mexico and Central America · MexicoThe 1520s were a key acceleration period of the great biological exchange: smallpox spread with Spanish forces into Mexico in 1519–1520, severely weakening the resistance of Tenochtitlan; Old World horses spread across the Mexican highlands and the Caribbean, changing modes of transport and warfare. Meanwhile, maize and cacao entered Europe through Spanish ports, tobacco began to become fashionable in courts and port cities, and the global agricultural structure began slowly to be reorganized.
3. c. 1550–1800Eurasia and Africa · AfricaIn the mid-to-late 16th century, American crops such as potatoes, maize, cassava, and tomatoes spread to Europe, Africa, and Asia via Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch trade routes, gradually changing carrying capacity and diets; Old World livestock and weeds continued to expand in the Americas, forming an irreversible trend of global biological homogenization that laid the ecological foundation for modern population growth and the colonial economy.