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Maize & the Columbian Exchange - AP World Project
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Maize & the Columbian Exchange
Evan Doerr & Tyler Dudish
P4 AP World History
The Origins of Maize
- Maize was first domesticated by native populations in Southern Mexico in 8700 BCE
- Maize spread throughout the Americas, even reaching up to modern S. Maine by the time colonizers arrived
Origins
Ancestry:
Maize was descended from the wild plant "teosinte"
Ancestry
Trans-Atlantic Diffusion of Maize
- The first European interaction with corn was from Christopher Columbus in 1493
- The original strain of maize was from the Caribbean and was brought to Spain
- Brought to Vatican for papal consumption
Diffusion of Maize
Spread throughout Europe
Spread throughout Europe
- When first introduced, maize was not adapted to European environments, save for S. Europe
- It was brought to the Vatican & cultivated in S. Europe & Alpine Italy until the crop adapted to the climate of N. Europe, allowing its diffusion north
- By the 17th century, maize was highly popular in N. Spain, SW. France, and Germany
- After WWII, new hybrid forms of the crop helped it grow throughout all of Europe
First Art of Maize in Europe
Maize's interactions
with Africa
- When maize was first introduced to the African continent in the 16th century, rather than stimulate economic development, it immediately increased the rate of population growth and slave exports
- Maize was first cultivated on the following areas in the 16th century:
Gambia River, the mouth of the Congo River, Volta River, & Ethiopia
- Maize became a dominant crop in west, south, and southeastern Africa
Spread throughout Africa
Recent Importance of Maize
Spread throughout Asia
- Maize began to have a serious effect on China once introduced from Portugal in 1516
- Maize surplus allowed population growth in the 17-19th centuries
- Maize was cultivated in Manchuria, the Yangtze Delta, the mountains of Yunan and Szechwan, and southwestern China.
Spread throughout Asia
Map
Why was maize originally profitable?
Profit Generation
Maize was originally highly profitable
This was because maize:
- Matures rapidly
- Nutrient dense
- Easy to prepare and harvest
- Highly storable
- Was first in low supply
However, once maize diffused and was more common across Europe, it was not very profitable and was consumed locally by peasants by the end of the 17th century
Spain's Profit
Spain's
Profit
- Spain enjoyed high profits off of maize as it was imported into the Old World and cultivated in Spain
- As maize was diffused and became a staple of the European diet, lots of money went to Spanish traders
- Spain was able to reap high rates of profit from its production as they didn't have to pay much for labor with the encomienda and the later hacienda system
- As maize was diffused throughout Europe, increased in supply, and became a peasant food, it was not very profitable for Spain
Maize's Impact on Labor Systems
Impact on Labor Systems
- To maximize profits flowing in from territory controlled by Spain in Meso-America, Spain utilized the encomienda system of forced labor to generate large maize surplus for high profit
- When maize was introduced to Africa, it resulted in greater population growth and thus, fueled a greater supply of slaves during the slave trades
- Demand for slaves to harvest maize, along with other crops,
increased demand for forced labor
and slaves
Incorporation into new cultures
Polenta:
- Northern Italian Culture
- Boiled cornmeal
- It was based a dish called pultem from Rome
- It was made from cooked ground spelt until maize was introduced
- Eaten by peasants
- Polenta was created around ~1550 AD and is still eaten today
Banku:
- National Dish of Ghana
- Mix of fermented corn dough and cassava dough
- Eaten by peasants
- Banku was created in the 16th century with the
introduction of corn by Europeans
Cultural Impacts
Polenta
Banku
Maize's Environmental
Impacts Across the Globe
- Maize has an ability to be grown in many different environmental conditions, making it very versatile for growth around the world
- Maize also increases carbon levels in the soil, providing better water infiltration, enhanced nutrient cycling, alleviating compaction and reducing runoff.
- Maize can often rapidly deplete the nutrients in the soil if not properly rotated with another crop
- There were not any large negative environmental effects from growing maize
Environmental Impacts
What was the Columbian Exchange?
The Columbian Exchange was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the New World and Old World after the voyages of Columbus in 1492.
The Columbian Exchange
Causes of the Columbian Exchange
- New and improved naval technology available in Europe from interactions with muslims (improved magnetic compass, astrolabe, sternpost rudder, improved cartography, current / wind charts, lateen sails, etc.)
- Fall of feudalism & the rise of competing nation-states caused states to look to the west for more wealth & territory
- Mercantilist economic thinking
- Desire of merchants to avoid dealing in muslim merchants for increased profits
- Spread Christianity
Causes
Effects on the Old World
- Population growth from new crops from the Americas (potatoes & maize)
- Spread of tobacco
- Syphillus
- Increased demand for slaves
- Increased wealth
- New spices
- Decreased interest to interact with muslim traders
Effects on the Old World
Effects on the New World
- Deforestation / overgrazing
- New animals (cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, horses)
- Death of many natives from smallpox, measles, & influenza
- New crops like wheat & barley
- Colonization
- Forced labor of natives
- Extraction of precious metals from the new world
- Introduction of Christianity
- Introduction of new languages (Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, etc.)
Effects on the New World
Sources:
Sources
- https://www.britannica.com/plant/corn-plant
- https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/new-research-reveals-earliest-evidence-corn-new-world
- https://thecolumbianexchange.weebly.com/maize.html
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1631069110003045
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387818303195#:~:text=Maize%20first%20arrived%20on%20the,and%20its%20short%20growing%20season.
- https://www2.palomar.edu/users/scrouthamel/maize.html
- https://www.wits.ac.za/curiosity/stories/slave-maize-the-truth-about-mielies.html
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/41762127?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3Ac6dd055e8c88a909bfb573abedfc59a9&seq=15#page_scan_tab_contents
- https://ebrary.net/27880/environment/corn_columbian_exchange
- https://www.nonnonanni.it/en/grandparents-thoughts/polenta-the-food-of-bygone-days/
- https://www.196flavors.com/ghana-banku/