User:Sivilapstcc/sandbox

Influence
The discovery of America completely transformed the ecology on a global level. The trend towards homogeneity caused by the transoceanic exchange of crops, livestock and disease is one of the most important events in the history of live on earth.

Crops
Several plants native to the Americas have spread around the world, including potato, maize, tomato, and tobacco. Before 1500, potatoes were not grown outside of South America. By the 19th century they were found in nearly every cookpot in Europe and had conquered India and North America. Potatoes eventually became an important staple of the diet in much of Europe, contributing to about 25% of the population growth in Afro-Eurasia between 1700 and 1900. Many European rulers, including Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia, encouraged the cultivation of the potato.

Disease[edit]
Further information: Native American disease and epidemics, Influx of disease in the Caribbean, Virgin soil epidemic, and Cocoliztli epidemics European exploration of tropical areas was aided by the New World discovery of quinine, the first effective treatment for malaria. Quinine was a tree grown in the Amazon jungle that had a bitter taste and was also referred to as “Peruvian bark”. The medical properties of quinine were well known by the Incas that used it to cure many illnesses. Europeans suffered from malaria, but some indigenous populations had developed at least partial resistance to it. In Africa, resistance to malaria has been associated with other genetic changes among sub-Saharan Africans and their descendants, which can cause sickle-cell disease.:164 In fact, the resistance of sub-Saharan Africans to malaria in the Southern United States contributed to the development of slavery in those regions. In Europe, quinine was introduced as the treatment of malaria around 1630, an event that marked the beginning of modern pharmacology.