In which John Green teaches you about the changes wrought by contact between the Old World and the New. John does this by exploring the totally awesome history book "The Columbian Exchange" by Alfred Crosby, Jr. After Columbus "discovered" the Americas, European conquerors, traders, and settlers brought all manner of changes to the formerly isolated continents. Disease and invasive plant and animal species remade the New World, usually in negative ways. While native people, plants, and animals were being displaced in the Americas, the rest of the world was benefitting from American imports, especially foods like maize, tomatoes, potatoes, pineapple, blueberries, sweet potatoes, and manioc. Was the Columbian Exchange a net positive? It's debatable. So debate. The Columbian Exchange, by Alfred Crosby, Jr: https://bit.ly/3M3ZtbG Chapters: Introduction: The Columbian Exchange 00:00 Diseases of the Columbian Exchange 1:14 John Green Does the Cinnamon Challenge (Ew) 4:21 An Open Letter to Tobacco 5:09 Animals of the Columbian Exchange 5:51 Plants of the Columbian Exchange 7:27 People of the Columbian Exchange 9:53 Credits 11:36 Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet? Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thecrashcourse/ CC Kids: null