WEBVTT

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The collision of cultures that took
place in 1492 has consequences that are

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still unfolding today.

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New foods reshaped the diets of the
Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Sugar,

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coffee, cattle, pigs, and sheep reached
the Americas, while corn, tobacco,

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tomatoes, and potatoes came
to Africa, Asia, and Europe.

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The New World environment was transformed
as Europeans cleared vast tracts of

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forested land and introduced cattle,
goats, horses, sheep, and swine as well as

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Old World grasses and weeds.

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The European discovery of the New World
also resulted in the sharpest population

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decline in human history, as millions
of Indians died from smallpox, measles,

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and other epidemic diseases.

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With the New World population decimated
by disease, Europeans gradually

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introduced a new labor force: enslaved
Africans. By the late eighteenth century,

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Europeans were debating whether Columbus's
discovery of the New World had added

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to or subtracted from human happiness.