Crash Course: World History

S1 E1

Crash Course: World History — Season 1, Episode 23: The Columbian Exchange: Crash Course World History #23

Talk, Documentary • 30 min • 2 seasons, 72 episodes

Episode synopsis

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.

About Crash Course: World History

Crash Course World History is a video course hosted by John Green that teaches world history from growing the first crops in the First Agricultural Revolution to global textile production in the 2010s. Across the series, it builds skills in identifying and explaining historical developments, analyzing events in broader context, and tracing patterns and connections across time and place—aiming to help viewers become more informed citizens of the world. Season 1 follows the 2012 AP World History curriculum in a 42-episode chronological survey, while Season 2 continues in 30 episodes with a more thematic approach that focuses on systems and encourages viewers to question how “history” is written and what biases shape it.

More episodes from Season 1

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