2 ene 1492 año - Chris. Colombus lands on Hispaniola, "discovers" Americas

Descripción:

- was trying to find sea route to Asia
- Returned to Spain w/ gold --> boom in exploration --> technological advancements (triangular sail, perfected navigational tools) --> Spain, Portugal, France, Netherlands start exploring New World (UK is preoccupied w/ internal problems)

COLOMBIAN EXCHANGE
Three sisters crops -------------->
Syphillis ------------------------------>
Gold/Silver -------------------------->
Sugar ---------------------------------->
<-------------- Weapons
<-------------- Horses
<-------------- Smallpox, etc.
<-------------- Wheat, barley

- Disease ravages the New World (ex. Hispaniola population .5 million 1492 --> 2,000 in 1540s
- In the Great Plains, horses transform war, transport, and wealth
- High sugar demand --> est. of plantation system in Caribbean
- 3 sisters crops bring nutritional variety to Euro. diet --> European population boom
- Precious metals heavily mined --> est. Encomienda system: each Spanish officer given a group of NA to supervise (suppress rebellion, protect from internal war, convert to Christ.) --> over-mining will eventually lead to inflation and cause econ. depression in Spain and the rest of Euro.

MAROON COMMUNITIES
- Caribbean, Brazil (eventually in French and American South)
- Escaped slave communities
- Preserved traditional African culture
- Come to control large portions of Jamaican interior