CAVENDISH, Vt. – On Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, at 2 p.m., the Cavendish Historical Society will host a talk on the Columbian Exchange at the CHS Museum, 1955 Main St., Cavendish, Vt.
It is estimated that 60% of the current world supply originated in the Americas. Thanks to the excellent farming skills of America’s first people, crops like corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes offset famine in China, Europe, and Africa. Below is an excerpt from “The Columbian Exchange,” by Alfred W. Crosby:
“In 1491, the world was, in many of its aspects and characteristics, a minimum of two worlds – the New World, of the Americas, and the Old World, consisting of Eurasia and Africa. Columbus brought them together, and almost immediately and continually ever since, we have had an exchange of native plants, animals, and diseases moving back and forth across the oceans between the two worlds. A great deal of the economic, social, and political history of the world is involved in the exchange of living organisms between the two worlds.”