Columbian Exchange

Timeline

1. 1501–1505Hispaniola · HispaniolaSpain consolidated colonial rule over the Caribbean islands and introduced Old World livestock and crops; infectious diseases such as smallpox spread among indigenous communities lacking immunity, causing a sharp population decline, while experiments in sugarcane cultivation laid the groundwork for the later Atlantic plantation economy.
2. 1505–1510Seville–Lisbon–Venice trade ports · SpainAmerican products such as maize, potatoes, tobacco, and cacao entered European and North African markets through Spanish ports; though they had not yet fully transformed the agricultural structure, they already aroused the interest of merchants, scholars, and courts in exotic resources, promoting the institutionalization of transoceanic trade networks.