jan 1, 1493 - Columbus deposits Old World flora and fauna onto Carribbean Islands

Description:

After "discovering" the New World, Columbus returned to Europe and gathered a larger fleet of 17 ships. Then, he traveled back to the Caribbean Islands and unloaded a large cargo of horses, cows, and pigs - animals previously unknown to the Native Americans. This demonstrates the process of globalization - commerce on an international scale - which was vitally important to both worlds because it introduced new flora and fauna to both sides. However, it also introduced syphilis to Europe and smallpox, measles, and bubonic plague (among others) to the New World, which ended up devastating Indian populations. Yet, horses spread to North America, which made tribes like the Sioux become warrior-like hunters, dominating buffalo herds and smaller tribes without access to horses.