The Columbian Exchange: Biological Consequences of 1492 Was Groundbreaking in Its

Alfred W. Crosby, Jr.. The Columbian Exchange: Biological Consequences of 1492. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2003. Pp.
xxvii + 283, paperback, $31.71. Reviewed by JohanaMarie Williams. Alfred W. Crosby is one of the first, if not the first, environmental historians. His book The Columbian Exchange: Biological Consequences of 1492 was groundbreaking in its multidisciplinary technique to exploring the effects of Columbuss discovery and also in the way it--eventually--shifted the perspectives of historical establishment. The forward by J.R. McNeill proves apt. While few reviewers of the 1970s seemed to fully grasp the perspectivechanging nature of this book, forty years later sees it as an integral text to Early American historiography. Crosby is currently Professor Emeritus of History, Geography, and American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.1 Chapter one discusses Columbuss discovery of America and the surprises in wait for his and future expeditions. The animals and plants of both North and South America, as well as the appearance of the indigenous population astounded and confounded the Europeans. Particularly, the large reptiles of South America such as the iguana and anaconda, inspired fear and wonder. 2 These new discoveries also threw many of their, religious, philosophical, and scientific beliefs into doubt; from Aristotles assumption that the equatorial zone would be uninhabitable due to heat to the idea of monogeneticism or monogenism, The hypothesis or doctrine of the common origin of the human species, esp. from a single pair of ancestors.3,4
1 2
Alfred W. Crosby, Jr. http://www.awcrosby.com/. Alfred W. Crosby, Jr.. The Columbian Exchange: Biological Consequences of 1492, 8. 3 Oxford English Dictionary Online, 2002 ed. s.v. monogenism. 4 Crosby, 9.
Chapter two is entitled Conquistador y Pestilencia and brings to the fore one of the more known facts about Columbuss explorations; that his crew and other European explorers brought with them diseases that had previously not been known to the New World. In writing about the effects of the Spanish conquest a Crosby quotes a Yucatan Indian who says: There was then no sickness; they had no aching bones; they had then no high fever; they had no smallpox; they had then no burning chest; they had no abdominal pain; they had no consumption; they had no headache. At that time the course of humanity was orderly. The foreigners made it otherwise when they arrived.5 While it is difficult to believe that the course of humanity was completely orderly and undisturbed before the Conquistadors, it cannot be underestimated how the combined toll of conquest, slavery, and constant illness whittled away at the morale of the Native Americans and their ability to resist. Crosby also addresses the question of whether or not it is truly due to how the Indian could be so susceptible to smallpox and yet it not manifest until twenty-five years after Columbuss arrival. The delay in the Arawaks contraction of smallpox does not disprove susceptibility but is inherent on the nature of the disease (short incubation and culmination) and the method of migration (long sea voyages through hot humidity and bright sunlight, which is unfriendly to the virus). Thus those who could have carried the virus would have already died or recovered before meeting the Arawak. However continued exposure and more speedy travel ensured that the delay of that particular exchange was only a delay.6
5 6
ibid. 36. ibid. 45.
Though many transplanted fruits and vegetables prospered in the New Worldsuch as oranges, citrons, cabbage, and bananasthey were not adopted by Native Americans. However Chapter three, Old World Plants & Animals in the New World, shows that the animals of the Old World were far more compatible with various indigenous cultures. In particular, horses were adopted by many of the people groups of the North American plains and dramatically reshaped cultures that had previously only relied on human power to move and carry and build. This is in contrast to the Old World which relied on beasts of burden for both agriculture and transport, from horses and donkeys, to camels and elephants. Chapter four of The Columbian Exchange discusses the speculative origin and spread of syphilis. As discussed in the Preface to the 2003 Edition, the focus is inordinate. Crosby states that he did so originally to preserve some perceived balance in discussing the negative effects of the Columbian Exchange. However, the effects were not balanced, and no such depth and detail is spent discussing smallpox and each of the other many and varied Old World diseases that effectively facilitated European takeover of the New World, though they are discussed in chapter two. It is gratifying to see the authors recognition of this unintentional imbalance in the later edition. To go on would do a disservice to this review, but let it suffice to say that the remaining chapters are equally fascinating. Crosbys work has historical influence from academic journals to childrens television shows on PBS and reading this text now was instrumental both in facilitating new discoveries for this reader, and as a reminder that both the knowledge and
perspectives that we often take for granted have a beginning often with historians asking good questions.

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Alfred W. Crosby, Jr.. The Columbian Exchange: Biological Consequences of 1492. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2003. Pp.

ibid. 36. ibid. 45.

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