The Columbian Exchange At a Glance

Countless animals, plants, and microorganisms crossed the Atlantic Ocean with European explorers and colonists in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. This chart lists some of the organisms that had the greatest impact on human society worldwide.

  Old World New World New World Old World
Domestic animals
  • horses
  • cattle
  • pigs
  • sheep
  • goats
  • chickens
  • turkeys
  • llamas
  • alpacas
  • guinea pigs
Crops
  • rice
  • wheat
  • barley
  • oats
  • coffee
  • sugar cane
  • citrus fruits
  • bananas
  • melons
  • Kentucky bluegrass
  • maize (corn)
  • potatoes
  • sweet potatoes
  • cassava
  • peanuts
  • tobacco
  • squash
  • peppers
  • tomatoes
  • pumpkins
  • cacao (the source of chocolate)
  • sunflowers
  • pineapples
  • avocados
  • vanilla
Diseases
  • syphilis (possibly)