Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 24, Number 2—Spring 2010—Pages 163–188

The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas

Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian

hhee ColumbianColumbian ExchangeExchange refersrefers toto thethe exchangeexchange ofof diseases,diseases, ideas,ideas, foodfood ccrops,rops, andand populationspopulations betweenbetween thethe NewNew WorldWorld andand thethe OldOld WWorldorld T ffollowingollowing thethe voyagevoyage ttoo tthehe AAmericasmericas byby ChristoChristopher pher CColumbusolumbus inin 1492.1492. TThehe OldOld WWorld—byorld—by wwhichhich wwee mmeanean nnotot jjustust EEurope,urope, bbutut tthehe eentirentire EEasternastern HHemisphere—gainedemisphere—gained fromfrom tthehe CColumbianolumbian EExchangexchange iinn a nnumberumber ooff wways.ays. DDiscov-iscov- eeriesries ooff nnewew ssuppliesupplies ofof metalsmetals areare perhapsperhaps thethe bestbest known.known. BButut thethe OldOld WWorldorld aalsolso ggainedained newnew staplestaple ccrops,rops, ssuchuch asas potatoes,potatoes, sweetsweet potatoes,potatoes, maize,maize, andand cassava.cassava. LessLess ccalorie-intensivealorie-intensive foods,foods, suchsuch asas tomatoes,tomatoes, chilichili peppers,peppers, cacao,cacao, peanuts,peanuts, andand pineap-pineap- pplesles wwereere aalsolso iintroduced,ntroduced, andand areare nownow culinaryculinary centerpiecescenterpieces inin manymany OldOld WorldWorld ccountries,ountries, namelynamely Italy,Italy, Greece,Greece, andand otherother MediterraneanMediterranean countriescountries (tomatoes),(tomatoes), IIndiandia aandnd KKoreaorea (chili(chili peppers),peppers), HungaryHungary ((paprika,paprika, mmadeade ffromrom cchilihili ppeppers),eppers), aandnd MMalaysiaalaysia aandnd TThailandhailand (chili(chili peppers,peppers, peanuts,peanuts, andand pineapples).pineapples). Tobacco,Tobacco, anotheranother NNewew WorldWorld ccrop,rop, wwasas ssoo uuniversallyniversally aadopteddopted tthathat iitt ccameame ttoo bbee uusedsed aass a ssubstituteubstitute fforor currencycurrency inin mmanyany partsparts ofof thethe world.world. TThehe eexchangexchange aalsolso ddrasticallyrastically iincreasedncreased tthehe availabilityavailability ooff mmanyany OOldld WWorldorld ccrops,rops, ssuchuch aass ssugarugar aandnd ccoffee,offee, wwhichhich werewere pparticularlyarticularly well-suitedwell-suited forfor thethe soilssoils ofof thethe NewNew World.World. TThehe exchangeexchange nnotot oonlynly bbroughtrought ggains,ains, bbutut aalsolso llosses.osses. EEuropeanuropean ccontactontact eenablednabled tthehe ttransmissionransmission ooff ddiseasesiseases ttoo ppreviouslyreviously iisolatedsolated ccommunities,ommunities, wwhichhich

■ NNathanathan NunnNunn iiss aann AAssistantssistant PProfessorrofessor ooff EEconomics,conomics, HHarvardarvard UUniversity,niversity, CCambridge,ambridge, MMassachusetts.assachusetts. DuringDuring thethe 2009–20102009–2010 aacademiccademic yyear,ear, hehe waswas thethe TrioneTrione VisitingVisiting ProfessorProfessor ofof EEconomicsconomics aatt StanfordStanford University,University, Stanford,Stanford, California.California. NancyNancy QianQian isis anan AssistantAssistant ProfessorProfessor ooff EEconomics,conomics, YaleYale University,University, NNewew Haven,Haven, CConnecticut.onnecticut. BBothoth aauthorsuthors aarere aalsolso FFacultyaculty RResearchesearch Fellows,Fellows, NationalNational BureauBureau ofof EconomicEconomic ResearchResearch (NBER),(NBER), Cambridge,Cambridge, Massachu-Massachu- ssetts,etts, aandnd AffiAffi lliates,iates, BureauBureau forfor ResearchResearch aandnd EconomicEconomic AnalysisAnalysis ooff DDevelopmentevelopment ((BREAD).BREAD). TTheirheir ee-mail-mail aaddressesddresses aarere 〈[email protected]@fas.harvard.edu〉 aandnd 〈[email protected]@yale.edu〉. doi=10.1257/jep.24.2.163 164 Journal of Economic Perspectives

ccausedaused ddevastationevastation ffarar eexceedingxceeding tthathat ooff eevenven tthehe BBlacklack DeathDeath inin fourteenth-centuryfourteenth-century EEurope.urope. EuropeansEuropeans broughtbrought ddeadlyeadly vvirusesiruses aandnd bbacteria,acteria, suchsuch aass ssmallpox,mallpox, measles,measles, ttyphus,yphus, andand cholera,cholera, forfor wwhichhich NativeNative AmericansAmericans hadhad nono immunityimmunity (Denevan,(Denevan, 1976).1976). OOnn ttheirheir rreturneturn hhome,ome, EEuropeanuropean sailorssailors broughtbrought syphilissyphilis toto Europe.Europe. AlthoughAlthough lessless ddeadly,eadly, tthehe ddiseaseisease wwasas kknownnown ttoo hhaveave ccausedaused greatgreat socialsocial disruptiondisruption throughoutthroughout tthehe OldOld WWorldorld ((Sherman,Sherman, 22007).007). TThehe effectseffects ofof thethe ColumbianColumbian ExchangeExchange wwereere nnotot iisolatedsolated ttoo tthehe ppartsarts ooff tthehe wworldorld mmostost ddirectlyirectly pparticipatingarticipating inin tthehe exchange:exchange: EEuropeurope aandnd tthehe AAmericas.mericas. IItt aalsolso hhadad large,large, althoughalthough llessess direct,direct, impactsimpacts onon AfricaAfrica andand Asia.Asia. EuropeanEuropean explorationexploration aandnd ccolonizationolonization ofof thethe vastvast ttropicalropical rregionsegions ofof thesethese continentscontinents waswas aidedaided byby thethe NNewew WorldWorld ddiscoveryiscovery ooff qquinine,uinine, tthehe fi rrstst eeffectiveffective treatmenttreatment forfor malaria.malaria. Moreover,Moreover, tthehe cultivationcultivation ofof fi nanciallynancially lucrativelucrative cropscrops inin thethe Americas,Americas, alongalong withwith thethe devas-devas- ttationation ooff nnativeative ppopulationsopulations ffromrom ddisease,isease, rresultedesulted iinn a ddemandemand fforor llaborabor tthathat wwasas mmetet wwithith thethe abductionabduction andand forcedforced movementmovement ofof overover 1212 millionmillion AfricansAfricans duringduring tthehe ssixteenthixteenth toto nineteenthnineteenth centuriescenturies (Lovejoy,(Lovejoy, 22000;000; MManning,anning, 11990).990). TThehe ColumbianColumbian ExchangeExchange hhasas pprovidedrovided economistseconomists interestedinterested inin thethe long-long- ttermerm eeffectsffects ofof historyhistory onon economiceconomic developmentdevelopment withwith a richrich historicalhistorical llaboratory.aboratory. EEconomicconomic sstudiestudies hhaveave tthushus ffarar mmainlyainly ffocusedocused onon howhow EuropeanEuropean institutions,institutions, tthroughhrough colonialism,colonialism, werewere transplantedtransplanted toto non-Europeannon-European partsparts ofof thethe world.world. TThehe sseminaleminal ppapersapers bbyy EEngermanngerman aandnd SokoloffSokoloff ((1997),1997), LaLa Porta,Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes,Lopez-de-Silanes, SShleifer,hleifer, andand VishnyVishny ((1997,1997, 11998),998), aandnd AAcemoglu,cemoglu, JJohnson,ohnson, aandnd RRobinsonobinson (2001)(2001) eexaminexamine tthehe eeffectsffects thatthat EuropeanEuropean contact,contact, takingtaking thethe formform ofof formalformal andand informalinformal ccolonialolonial rule,rule, hadhad onon otherother societies.societies.1 IInn thisthis paper,paper, wewe attemptattempt toto broadenbroaden thethe scopescope ofof economiceconomic studiesstudies ofof thethe CColumbianolumbian EExchangexchange bbyy sstudyingtudying aaspectsspects ooff tthehe eexchangexchange tthathat hhaveave rreceivedeceived llessess aattention.ttention. FFirst,irst, wwee ppayay pparticulararticular aattentionttention ttoo tthehe eeffectsffects thatthat thethe exchangeexchange hadhad onon tthehe OldOld WWorld,orld, ratherrather thanthan examiningexamining ooutcomesutcomes iinn tthehe NNewew World.World. SSecond,econd, rratherather tthanhan concentratingconcentrating onon thethe effectseffects ofof thethe exchangeexchange thatthat workwork throughthrough institutionalinstitutional aandnd ppoliticalolitical structures,structures, wwee ffocusocus oonn tthehe lless-studied,ess-studied, butbut nono less-importantless-important chan-chan- nnels;els; namely,namely, thethe biologicalbiological exchangeexchange ofof foodfood cropscrops andand disease.disease. OurOur hopehope isis thatthat oourur bbroadroad ddescriptiveescriptive ooverviewverview ooff ssomeome ooff tthehe nneglectedeglected aaspectsspects ooff tthehe CColumbianolumbian EExchangexchange wwillill sspurpur furtherfurther more-rigorousmore-rigorous studiesstudies ooff tthehe llong-termong-term cconsequencesonsequences ooff tthesehese aspectsaspects ofof thethe exchange.exchange. WWee areare awareaware ofof onlyonly a handfulhandful ofof empiricalempirical paperspapers thatthat eithereither focusfocus onon thethe eeffectffect ofof thethe exchangeexchange onon thethe OldOld WWorldorld oorr ffocusocus oonn cchannelshannels ootherther tthanhan llegalegal iinstitutions.nstitutions. AAcemoglu,cemoglu, JJohnson,ohnson, aandnd RRobinsonobinson ((2005)2005) eexaminexamine tthehe eeffectsffects ofof thethe tthree-cornerhree-corner AtlanticAtlantic tradetrade onon Europe.Europe. TheyThey argueargue thatthat tthehe pprofirofi ttss ffromrom tthehe ttraderade sstrengthenedtrengthened tthehe mmerchanterchant cclass,lass, whichwhich resultedresulted inin strongerstronger probusinessprobusiness institutionsinstitutions aandnd increasedincreased economiceconomic growth.growth. TwoTwo studiesstudies hhaveave recentlyrecently exploredexplored thethe effectseffects fromfrom

1 Subsequent studies have since added to the understanding of the long-term effects of colonial rule and European contact on New World Societies. See for example Mitchener and McLean (2003), Berkowitz and Clay (2005, 2006), Acemoglu, Bautista, Querubin, and Robinson (2008), Dell (2008), and Nunn (2008a), as well as the review by Nunn (2009). Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian 165

tthehe botanicalbotanical exchange.exchange. IInn NNunnunn aandnd QQianian ((2009),2009), uusingsing a generalizedgeneralized ddifference-ifference- iin-differencesn-differences empiricalempirical strategy,strategy, wewe fi nndd tthathat tthehe iintroductionntroduction ooff ppotatoesotatoes ttoo tthehe OOldld WWorldorld rresultedesulted iinn a ssignifiignifi ccantant iincreasencrease iinn ppopulationopulation aandnd uurbanization.rbanization. OurOur fi nndingding ccomplementsomplements earlierearlier researchresearch byby MMokyrokyr ((1981)1981) tthathat eestimatesstimates tthehe eeffectsffects ofof tthehe ppotatootato oonn populationpopulation growthgrowth withinwithin Ireland.Ireland. HershHersh andand VothVoth (2009)(2009) examineexamine thethe benefibenefi ttss tthathat arosearose fromfrom tthehe iincreasencrease inin landland forfor cultivatingcultivating thethe OldOld WWorldorld ccropsrops ccoffeeoffee aandnd ssugarugar afterafter 1492.1492. AccordingAccording toto theirtheir calculationscalculations (see(see theirtheir tabletable 9),9), thethe increasedincreased aavailabilityvailability ooff ssugarugar increasedincreased EnglishEnglish welfarewelfare byby 8 percentpercent byby 1850,1850, whilewhile thethe greatergreater aavailabilityvailability ooff ccoffeeoffee iincreasedncreased welfarewelfare byby 1.51.5 percent.percent. IInn thethe followingfollowing section,section, wewe examineexamine thethe mostmost devastatingdevastating aandnd uunfortunatenfortunate cconsequencesonsequences ofof thethe ColumbianColumbian Exchange,Exchange, whichwhich arosearose fromfrom thethe exchangeexchange ooff ddiseaseisease bbetweenetween thethe OldOld aandnd NNewew WWorlds.orlds. NNext,ext, wwee tturnurn ttoo tthehe eeffectsffects ooff tthehe eexchangexchange tthathat aaroserose ffromrom tthehe ttransferransfer ooff ffoodsoods bbetweenetween thethe NewNew andand OldOld WWorlds.orlds. WWee tthenhen eexaminexamine tthehe iindirectndirect consequencesconsequences ofof thethe exchangeexchange oonn AAfricafrica aandnd Asia.Asia. TThehe fi nnalal sectionsection ofof thethe paperpaper offersoffers concludingconcluding tthoughts.houghts.

DDiseaseisease

TThehe SSpreadpread ofof DiseaseDisease fromfrom thethe OldOld WorldWorld toto thethe NewNew TThehe listlist ooff iinfectiousnfectious diseasesdiseases thatthat spreadspread fromfrom thethe OldOld WWorldorld ttoo tthehe NNewew iiss llong;ong; tthehe mmajorajor kkillersillers iincludenclude ssmallpox,mallpox, mmeasles,easles, whoopingwhooping ccough,ough, chickenchicken pox,pox, bbubonicubonic plague,plague, ttyphus,yphus, aandnd mmalariaalaria ((Denevan,Denevan, 11976,976, pp.. 55).). BBecauseecause nativenative ppopula-opula- ttionsions hadhad nono previousprevious contactcontact withwith OldOld WWorldorld ddiseases,iseases, ttheyhey wwereere iimmunologicallymmunologically ddefenseless.efenseless. DobynsDobyns (1983,(1983, p.p. 34)34) writeswrites thatthat “before“before thethe invasioninvasion ofof peoplespeoples ofof thethe NNewew WorldWorld bbyy ppathogensathogens tthathat eevolvedvolved aamongmong iinhabitantsnhabitants ofof thethe OldOld WWorld,orld, NNativeative AAmericansmericans livedlived iinn a rrelativelyelatively ddisease-freeisease-free environment.environment. . . . BeforeBefore EuropeansEuropeans iinitiatednitiated thethe ColumbianColumbian ExchangeExchange ofof germsgerms andand viruses,viruses, thethe peoplespeoples ofof thethe Amer-Amer- iicascas sufferedsuffered nnoo smallpox,smallpox, nono measles,measles, nono chickenpox,chickenpox, nono inflinfl uuenza,enza, nnoo ttyphus,yphus, nnoo ttyphoidyphoid oorr pparathyroidarathyroid fever,fever, nono diphtheria,diphtheria, nono cholera,cholera, nono bubonicbubonic plague,plague, nono sscarletcarlet fever,fever, nono whoopingwhooping ccough,ough, aandnd nnoo mmalaria.”alaria.” AAlthoughlthough wewe maymay nevernever knowknow thethe exactexact magnitudesmagnitudes ofof thethe depopulation,depopulation, itit isis eestimatedstimated thatthat upwardsupwards ofof 80–9580–95 percentpercent ofof thethe NativeNative AmericanAmerican populationpopulation waswas ddecimatedecimated withinwithin thethe fi rstrst 1100–15000–150 yyearsears ffollowingollowing 11492492 ((Newson,Newson, 22001).001). WWithinithin 5500 yearsyears followingfollowing contactcontact withwith ColumbusColumbus andand hishis crew,crew, thethe nativenative TainoTaino popu-popu- llationation ofof thethe islandisland ofof Hispanola,Hispanola, whichwhich hadhad anan estimatedestimated populationpopulation betweenbetween 660,0000,000 aandnd 8 mmillion,illion, wwasas vvirtuallyirtually eextinctxtinct ((Cook,Cook, 11993).993). CentralCentral Mexico’sMexico’s popula-popula- ttionion fellfell fromfrom jjustust uundernder 1155 mmillionillion iinn 11519519 ttoo aapproximatelypproximately 11.5.5 mmillionillion a ccenturyentury llater.ater. HistorianHistorian aandnd ddemographeremographer NNobelobel DavidDavid CCookook eestimatesstimates that,that, inin thethe end,end, tthehe regionsregions leastleast affectedaffected lostlost 8080 percentpercent ofof theirtheir ppopulations;opulations; tthosehose mostmost aaffectedffected llostost ttheirheir ffullull ppopulations;opulations; aandnd a ttypicalypical ssocietyociety llostost 9900 ppercentercent ooff iitsts populationpopulation ((Cook,Cook, 11998,998, p.p. 55).). TThehe uncertaintyuncertainty surroundingsurrounding thethe exactexact magnitudemagnitude ooff tthehe ddepopulationepopulation ooff tthehe AAmericasmericas aarisesrises bbecauseecause wwee ddon’ton’t kknownow tthehe eextentxtent ttoo wwhichhich diseasedisease mmayay 166 Journal of Economic Perspectives

hhaveave depopulateddepopulated thethe regionsregions beyondbeyond thethe initialinitial pointpoint ofof contactcontact beforebefore literateliterate EEuropeanuropean observersobservers mademade physicalphysical contactcontact withwith thesethese ppopulationsopulations ((Dobyns,Dobyns, 1993).1993). IIff diseasedisease traveledtraveled fasterfaster tthanhan tthehe eexplorers,xplorers, iitt wwouldould hhaveave kkilledilled a ssignifiignifi cantcant pportionortion ooff nnativeative ppopulationsopulations bbeforeefore ddirectirect contact,contact, causingcausing fi rrst-handst-hand accountsaccounts ooff iinitialnitial populationpopulation sizessizes toto bebe biasedbiased downward.downward. TheThe resultresult isis thatthat 14911491 popula-popula- ttionion estimatesestimates fforor thethe AmericasAmericas havehave variedvaried wildly,wildly, fromfrom a lower-boundlower-bound estimateestimate ooff aapproximatelypproximately 8 mmillionillion ((Kroeber,Kroeber, 1939)1939) toto anan upper-boundupper-bound estimateestimate ofof overover 111010 millionmillion peoplepeople (Dobyns,(Dobyns, 1966).1966). Surprisingly,Surprisingly, despitedespite decadesdecades ofof research,research, tthehe rrangeange ooff tthehe eestimatesstimates hhasas nnotot nnarrowed,arrowed, aandnd nnoo cclearlear cconsensusonsensus hhasas emergedemerged aaboutbout whetherwhether thethe truetrue fi ggureure lliesies ccloserloser toto thethe highhigh oror lowlow endend ofof thethe range.range. FForor eexamplesxamples ooff tthehe oopposingpposing vviews,iews, sseeee HHenigeenige ((1998)1998) aandnd MMannann ((2005).2005).

SSyphilis:yphilis: A NewNew WorldWorld Disease?Disease? TTherehere areare veryvery fewfew examplesexamples ooff ddiseaseisease bbeingeing sspreadpread fromfrom thethe NewNew WorldWorld ttoo tthehe OOld.ld.2 TheThe mostmost nnotableotable eexception,xception, aandnd bbyy ffarar tthehe mmostost ccontroversial,ontroversial, iiss vvenerealenereal ssyphilis.yphilis. BiologistBiologist IrwinIrwin ShermanSherman (2007)(2007) listslists venerealvenereal syphilissyphilis asas oneone ofof thethe twelvetwelve ddiseasesiseases thatthat changedchanged thethe world.world. TThishis mmayay sseemeem ssurprising,urprising, ggiveniven tthathat ttodayoday vvenerealenereal ssyphilisyphilis isis a nonfatalnonfatal ddiseaseisease tthathat iiss eeffectivelyffectively treatedtreated withwith penicillin.penicillin. However,However, thisthis wwasas notnot alwaysalways thethe ccase.ase. EarlyEarly oon,n, iinn thethe llateate fi fteenthfteenth andand eearlyarly ssixteenthixteenth centuries,centuries, tthehe diseasedisease waswas frequentlyfrequently fatal,fatal, andand itsits symptomssymptoms werewere muchmuch moremore severe.severe. TheyThey iincludedncluded genitalgenital ulcers,ulcers, rashes,rashes, largelarge tumors,tumors, severesevere pain,pain, dementia,dementia, andand eventualeventual ddeath.eath. OOverver ttime,ime, aass tthehe ddiseaseisease eevolved,volved, itsits symptomssymptoms changed,changed, becomingbecoming moremore bbenignenign andand lessless ffatal.atal. BByy tthehe sseventeentheventeenth century,century, syphilissyphilis hadhad developeddeveloped intointo thethe ddiseaseisease thatthat wwee kknownow todaytoday (Crosby,(Crosby, 22003,003, pp.pp. 151–53).151–53). TTwowo theoriestheories ofof thethe originsorigins ofof venerealvenereal syphilissyphilis exist.exist. TheThe fi rst,rst, referredreferred toto asas thethe ““ColumbianColumbian hypothesis,”hypothesis,” assertsasserts thatthat thethe disease-causingdisease-causing agentagent Treponema pallidum ooriginatedriginated inin thethe NewNew WorldWorld aandnd wwasas spreadspread inin 14931493 byby ChristopherChristopher ColumbusColumbus aandnd hhisis ccrew,rew, wwhoho acquiredacquired itit fromfrom tthehe nnativesatives ooff HHispaniolaispaniola tthroughhrough ssexualexual ccontact.ontact. UponUpon returnreturn toto Spain,Spain, somesome ofof thesethese menmen joinedjoined thethe militarymilitary ccampaignampaign ooff CCharlesharles VVIIIIII ooff FFrancerance andand laidlaid siegesiege toto NaplesNaples iinn 1495.1495. EncampedEncamped soldierssoldiers eexposedxposed tthehe llocalocal ppopulationsopulations ooff prostitutes,prostitutes, whichwhich amplifiamplifi eded diseasedisease ttransmission.ransmission. IInfectednfected andand disbandingdisbanding mmercenariesercenaries tthenhen sspreadpread thethe ddiseaseisease tthroughouthroughout EuropeEurope wwhenhen theythey returnedreturned hhome.ome. WWithinithin fi vvee yyearsears ofof itsits arrival,arrival, thethe diseasedisease waswas epidemicepidemic iinn Europe.Europe. SyphilisSyphilis reachedreached HungaryHungary andand RussiaRussia byby 1497;1497; Africa,Africa, thethe MiddleMiddle East,East, aandnd IIndiandia byby 1498;1498; ChinaChina byby 1505;1505; AustraliaAustralia byby 1515;1515; andand JapanJapan byby 15691569 (Crosby,(Crosby, 11969;969; DDennie,ennie, 11962;962; HHarrison,arrison, 11959;959; SSnodgrass,nodgrass, 22003;003; Sherman,Sherman, 22007).007). TThehe secondsecond ttheory,heory, thethe “pre-Columbian“pre-Columbian hypothesis,”hypothesis,” assertsasserts thatthat thethe diseasedisease hhadad aalwayslways eexistedxisted iinn tthehe OOldld WWorld,orld, aandnd tthehe ffactact tthathat ttherehere wwereere nnoo aaccountsccounts ooff tthehe ddiseaseisease priorprior toto thethe 1490s1490s isis becausebecause priorprior toto thisthis timetime itit hadhad notnot beenbeen differentiateddifferentiated

2 One reason for this is that Eurasian societies had domesticated more animals than societies of the Americas. Since many deadly human diseases originated as diseases among animals, this resulted in more disease originating in and being spread from Europeans to Native Americans, rather than vice versa (Diamond, 1997). The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas 167

ffromrom ootherther ddiseasesiseases wwithith ssimilarimilar ssymptomsymptoms ((Cockburn,Cockburn, 11961,961, 11963;963; HHackett,ackett, 11963,963, 11967;967; Holcomb,Holcomb, 11934,934, 11935).935). PProponentsroponents ooff tthehe pre-Columbianpre-Columbian hypothesishypothesis citecite ppre-Exchangere-Exchange accountsaccounts ofof diseasedisease symptomssymptoms similarsimilar toto venerealvenereal syphilis,syphilis, asas wellwell asas sskeletalkeletal rremainsemains wwithith sscarscars tthathat aarere ssimilarimilar toto scarsscars leftleft byby syphilis.syphilis. TheThe debatesdebates overover tthehe truetrue ooriginsrigins ooff vvenerealenereal ssyphilisyphilis havehave beenbeen a directdirect consequenceconsequence ofof thethe diffidiffi ccultyulty iinn ddistinguishingistinguishing vvenerealenereal ssyphilisyphilis fromfrom otherother diseasesdiseases thatthat hadhad similarsimilar symptomssymptoms aandnd leftleft ssimilarimilar bonebone scarsscars (Parrot,(Parrot, 1879;1879; Steinbock,Steinbock, 1976;1976; Williams,Williams, 1932;1932; Wright,Wright, 11971;971; VVeranoerano aandnd UUbelaker,belaker, 11992).992). RRecentecent fi nndingsdings ffromrom pphylogeneticshylogenetics (the(the evolutionaryevolutionary sstudytudy ofof thethe geneticgenetic relat-relat- eednessdness ooff ddifferentifferent ppopulationsopulations ofof organisms)organisms) havehave addedadded valuablevaluable evidenceevidence toto thethe mmysteryystery ooff tthehe ooriginsrigins ooff vvenerealenereal ssyphilis.yphilis. TheThe evidenceevidence ssupportsupports thethe ColumbianColumbian hhypothesisypothesis thatthat venerealvenereal syphilissyphilis isis inin factfact a NewNew WorldWorld disease.disease. TheThe recentrecent studystudy byby HHarperarper etet al.al. (2008)(2008) foundfound thatthat thethe bacteriumbacterium causingcausing venerealvenereal syphilissyphilis arosearose rela-rela- ttivelyively rrecentlyecently inin humanshumans andand isis mostmost ccloselylosely rrelatedelated ttoo a vvariationariation ooff tthehe ttropicalropical ddiseaseisease yawsyaws foundfound inin a remoteremote regionregion ofof Guyana,Guyana, SouthSouth America.America. ThisThis relation-relation- sshiphip iiss mostmost consistentconsistent wwithith vvenerealenereal ssyphilis,yphilis, oror somesome earlyearly ancestor,ancestor, originatingoriginating inin tthehe NewNew World.World. AAfterfter ddecadesecades ooff ddebate,ebate, tthishis ppowerfulowerful sstudytudy sshowedhowed tthathat vvenerealenereal ssyphilisyphilis waswas indeedindeed a NewNew WorldWorld ddisease.isease.

TThehe TTransferransfer ooff NNewew WWorldorld FoodsFoods toto thethe OldOld WorldWorld

TThehe transfertransfer ofof foodsfoods betweenbetween thethe OldOld andand NewNew WorldsWorlds dduringuring tthehe CColumbianolumbian EExchangexchange hhadad iimportantmportant cconsequencesonsequences forfor worldworld hhistory.istory. HHistorianistorian AAlfredlfred CrosbyCrosby ((1989,1989, pp.. 6666)66) ddescribesescribes tthehe ssignifiignifi cancecance ofof tthehe ttransferransfer ooff ffoodood ccropsrops bbetweenetween tthehe ccontinents,ontinents, writing:writing: ““TheThe ccomingoming ttogetherogether ooff tthehe ccontinentsontinents wwasas a pprerequisitererequisite forfor tthehe populationpopulation explosionexplosion ooff tthehe pastpast ttwowo centuries,centuries, aandnd ccertainlyertainly playedplayed anan impor-impor- ttantant rolerole inin tthehe IndustrialIndustrial RRevolution.evolution. TThehe ttransferransfer aacrosscross thethe oceanocean ofof thethe staplestaple ffoodood ccropsrops ooff tthehe OOldld aandnd NNewew WWorldsorlds mmadeade ppossibleossible tthehe fformer.”ormer.” TTherehere areare twotwo channelschannels tthroughhrough whichwhich thethe ColumbianColumbian ExchangeExchange expandedexpanded thethe ggloballobal supplysupply ofof agriculturalagricultural goods.goods. First,First, itit introducedintroduced previouslypreviously unknownunknown speciesspecies ttoo tthehe OldOld WWorld.orld. MManyany ooff tthesehese sspecies—likepecies—like ppotatoes,otatoes, ssweetweet ppotatoes,otatoes, mmaize,aize, aandnd ccassavaassava ((alsoalso kknownnown aass mmanioc)—resultedanioc)—resulted inin caloriccaloric andand nutritionalnutritional improve-improve- mmentsents overover previouslypreviously existingexisting sstaples.taples. OOtherther ccropsrops ssuchuch aass ttomatoes,omatoes, ccacao,acao, andand cchilihili pepperspeppers werewere notnot byby themselvesthemselves eespeciallyspecially rrichich iinn ccalories,alories, bbutut ccomplementedomplemented eexistingxisting ffoodsoods bbyy iincreasingncreasing vvitaminitamin iintakentake aandnd iimprovingmproving ttaste.aste. IInn manymany instances,instances, tthehe NewNew WorldWorld ffoodsoods hhadad aann iimportantmportant eeffectffect onon thethe evolutionevolution ofof locallocal cuisines.cuisines. CChilihili pepperspeppers gavegave riserise toto spicyspicy curriescurries inin India,India, toto ppaprikaaprika inin Hungary,Hungary, aandnd ttoo sspicypicy kkimcheeimchee iinn KKorea.orea. TTomatoesomatoes ssignifiignifi cantlycantly alteredaltered thethe cuisinecuisine ofof ItalyItaly andand otherother Medi-Medi- tterraneanerranean countries.countries. Second,Second, thethe discoverydiscovery ofof thethe AmericasAmericas providedprovided thethe OldOld WorldWorld wwithith vastvast qquantitiesuantities ooff rrelativelyelatively unpopulatedunpopulated landland well-suitedwell-suited forfor thethe cultivationcultivation ofof ccertainertain cropscrops thatthat werewere inin highhigh demanddemand inin OldOld WWorldorld mmarkets.arkets. CCropsrops ssuchuch aass ssugar,ugar, ccoffee,offee, soybeans,soybeans, oranges,oranges, andand bananasbananas werewere allall introducedintroduced toto thethe NewNew World,World, andand tthehe AmericasAmericas quicklyquickly becamebecame thethe mainmain supplierssuppliers ofof thesethese cropscrops globally.globally. 168 Journal of Economic Perspectives

Table 1 The World’s Most Popular Foods in 2000

Average Daily Consumption Annual Production Land Harvested (calories) (millions of tonnes) (millions of hectares)

Rice 567 Sugar cane 1,252.5 Wheat 215.5 Wheat 527 Rice 598.8 Rice 154.1 Sugar 196 Maize 592.5 Maize 137.0 Maize 147 Wheat 585.9 Soybeans 74.4 Potatoes 60 Potatoes 328.7 Barley 54.5 Cassava 42 Sugar beet 247.1 Sorghum 41.0 Sorghum 32 Cassava 176.5 Millet 37.1 Sweet Potatoes 29 Soybeans 161.3 Rapeseed 25.8 Millet 29 Sweet potatoes 138.7 Sunfl ower seed 21.1 Soybeans 17 Barley 133.1 Potatoes 20.1 Bananas 14 Oil palm fruit 120.4 Sugar cane 19.5 Coconuts 12 Tomatoes 108.9 Cassava 17.0 Apples 9 Watermelons 76.5 Oats 12.7 Tomatoes 8 Bananas 64.9 Coffee, green 10.8 Oranges 8 Grapes 64.8 Coconuts 10.6 Rye 7 Oranges 63.8 Chick peas 10.1 Yams 7 Apples 59.1 Oil palm fruit 10.0 Onions 7 Sorghum 55.8 Rye 9.8 Plantains 7 Coconuts 52.9 Sweet potatoes 9.7 Barley 7 Onions, dry 49.8 Olives 8.3

Other Notable New World Foods: Cacao Beans 3 Eggplants 27.2 Cacao beans 7.6 Pineapples 2 Sunfl ower seed 26.5 Natural rubber 7.6 Chillies/peppers, green 20.9 Tobacco 4.2 Pineapples 15.1 Tomatoes 4.0

Source: The data are from the FAO’s ProdSTAT and Consumption Databases. See 〈http://faostat.fao.org/〉. Notes: All fi gures are for the year 2000. Bold type indicates a New World food crop. Italics indicate an Old World crop for which more than 26 percent of current world production is in the New World (26 percent is the fraction of arable land that is located in the New World). The table does not report the consumption of oils. Among oils, the fourth most consumed oil, sunfl ower oil, is derived from sunfl owers, a New World crop.

TThehe extentextent toto whichwhich foodsfoods indigenousindigenous toto thethe NewNew WorldWorld ttodayoday ccompriseomprise aann iimportantmportant portionportion ofof thethe world’sworld’s ddietiet iiss iillustratedllustrated byby TableTable 11,, whichwhich reportsreports tthehe wworld’sorld’s mmostost ppopularopular ffoodsoods iinn 22000.000. TThehe fi rrstst listlist rreportseports ffoodsoods wwithith ppopularityopularity mmeasuredeasured byby thethe averageaverage consumptionconsumption ooff ccaloriesalories pperer ppersonerson pperer dday.ay. BBecauseecause tthishis mmeasureeasure maymay overstateoverstate thethe popularitypopularity ofof high-caloriehigh-calorie foodfood crops,crops, wewe alsoalso provideprovide rrankingsankings basedbased onon productionproduction andand landland underunder cultivation.cultivation. TheseThese areare reportedreported iinn tthehe secondsecond andand thirdthird lists.lists. FFoodsoods thatthat areare indigenousindigenous ttoo tthehe NNewew WorldWorld aarere rreportedeported iinn bboldold ttext.ext. FFromrom tthehe ttableable iitt iiss cclearlear tthathat ttodayoday NNewew WWorldorld ffoodsoods aarere aann iimportantmportant partpart ofof oourur ddiets.iets. AAlthoughlthough thethe twotwo mostmost cconsumedonsumed cropscrops (by(by anyany ofof thethe tthreehree measures)measures) areare OldOld WWorldorld ccropsrops ((eithereither rrice,ice, wwheat,heat, oorr ssugar),ugar), manymany ofof tthehe nnext-most-importantext-most-important cropscrops areare fromfrom thethe NewNew World.World. FourFour NewNew WorldWorld ccropsrops tthathat Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian 169

mmakeake itit intointo thethe toptop tenten byby twotwo oror moremore measuresmeasures areare maize,maize, potatoes,potatoes, cassava,cassava, andand ssweetweet potatoes;potatoes; tomatoestomatoes rankrank amongamong thethe toptop 1515 byby twotwo differentdifferent measures.measures. AlsoAlso hhighigh onon thethe listlist aarere a nnumberumber ooff aadditionaldditional NewNew WorldWorld ffoodsoods ssuchuch aass cchilihili ppepperseppers aandnd ccacao,acao, wwhichhich despitedespite nnotot bbeingeing cconsumedonsumed inin largelarge quantities,quantities, areare ofof centralcentral iimportancemportance toto thethe cuisinescuisines ofof manymany countries.countries.

SStapletaple Crops:Crops: Potatoes,Potatoes, SweetSweet Potatoes,Potatoes, Maize,Maize, andand CassavaCassava TThehe exchangeexchange iintroducedntroduced a widewide rangerange ofof newnew caloricallycalorically richrich staplestaple cropscrops toto tthehe OldOld WWorld—namelyorld—namely ppotatoes,otatoes, ssweetweet ppotatoes,otatoes, mmaize,aize, aandnd cassava.cassava. TThehe pprimaryrimary bbenefienefi t ofof thethe NewNew WorldWorld sstaplestaples wwasas tthathat ttheyhey ccouldould bbee ggrownrown iinn OOldld WWorldorld cclimateslimates tthathat werewere unsuitableunsuitable forfor thethe cultivationcultivation ofof OldOld WorldWorld sstaples.taples. CCrosbyrosby ((2003,2003, pp.. 1177)77) wwrites:rites: “The“The ggreatreat aadvantagedvantage ooff tthehe AAmericanmerican foodfood pplantslants iiss tthathat ttheyhey mmakeake ddifferentifferent ddemandsemands ofof soils,soils, weatherweather andand cultivationcultivation thanthan OldOld WWorldorld ccrops,rops, aandnd aarere ddifferentifferent iinn tthehe ggrowingrowing sseasonseasons iinn wwhichhich theythey makemake tthesehese ddemands.emands. IInn mmanyany ccasesases tthehe AAmericanmerican ccropsrops dodo notnot competecompete withwith OldOld WWorldorld ccropsrops bbutut ccomplementomplement tthem.hem. TThehe AAmericanmerican pplantslants eenablenable thethe farmerfarmer toto produceproduce foodfood fromfrom soilssoils thatthat priorprior toto 1492,1492, werewere ratedrated asas uuselessseless becausebecause ofof theirtheir ssandiness,andiness, altitude,altitude, aaridity,ridity, aandnd ootherther ffactors.”actors.” TThishis benefibenefi t ofof NewNew WorldWorld ccropsrops hhasas rresultedesulted inin theirtheir adoptionadoption inin allall partsparts ooff thethe world.world. TThishis iiss sshownhown bbyy TTableable 22,, wwhichhich rreportseports tthehe ttopop cconsumingonsuming ccoun-oun- ttriesries forfor differentdifferent NewNew WorldWorld ffoods.oods. TThehe NNewew WorldWorld ccroprop mmaizeaize hhasas bbeeneen wwidelyidely aadopteddopted byby a numbernumber ofof OldOld WWorldorld ccountriesountries iincludingncluding LLesotho,esotho, MMalawi,alawi, aandnd ZZambia.ambia. TheThe averageaverage personperson inin LesothoLesotho consumesconsumes anan astonishingastonishing 1,5001,500 caloriescalories pperer dayday fromfrom maize.maize. EvenEven moremore widelywidely adoptedadopted thanthan maizemaize isis cassava.cassava. TThehe toptop ttenen cassava-consumingcassava-consuming ccountriesountries aarere allall fromfrom thethe OldOld WWorld.orld. AAlthoughlthough bbothoth ffoodsoods dodo havehave theirtheir imperfections—forimperfections—for example,example, a dietdiet ofof tootoo muchmuch maizemaize ccausesauses pellagra aandnd consumptionconsumption ofof insuffiinsuffi cientlyciently pprocessedrocessed cassavacassava rresultsesults inin konzo——theythey provideprovide ssustenanceustenance forfor millionsmillions ofof peoplepeople aroundaround thethe worldworld ttoday.oday. TThehe tabletable alsoalso showsshows tthathat ssweetweet potatoespotatoes havehave beenbeen widelywidely adoptedadopted inin thethe OldOld WWorldorld aandnd ttodayoday aarere mmostost hheavilyeavily cconsumedonsumed inin thethe SolomonSolomon Islands,Islands, Rwanda,Rwanda, BBurundi,urundi, Uganda,Uganda, aandnd CChina.hina. TThehe NewNew WorldWorld ccroprop tthathat aarguablyrguably hhadad tthehe llargestargest iimpactmpact onon thethe OldOld WWorldorld iiss thethe potato.potato. BecauseBecause itit providesprovides aann aabundantbundant ssupplyupply ofof caloriescalories andand nutrients,nutrients, tthehe potatopotato iiss ableable toto sustainsustain lifelife betterbetter thanthan anyany otherother foodfood whenwhen consumedconsumed asas thethe ssoleole articlearticle ofof dietdiet (Davidson(Davidson aandnd PPassmore,assmore, 11965,965, pp.. 2285).85). HumansHumans cancan actuallyactually ssubsistubsist healthilyhealthily onon a dietdiet ofof ppotatoes,otatoes, ssupplementedupplemented withwith onlyonly milkmilk oror butter,butter, wwhichhich ccontainontain tthehe twotwo vitaminsvitamins notnot providedprovided byby potatoes,potatoes, vitaminsvitamins A andand D (Connell,(Connell, 11962;962; DavidsonDavidson andand Passmore,Passmore, 1965).1965). This,This, inin fact,fact, waswas thethe typicaltypical IrishIrish diet,diet, whichwhich aalthoughlthough monotonous,monotonous, waswas ableable toto provideprovide suffisuffi cientcient amountsamounts ofof allall vitaminsvitamins andand nnutrientsutrients (Connell,(Connell, 1962).1962). TheThe potatopotato waswas alsoalso adoptedadopted asas a corecore staplestaple iinn mmanyany ootherther partsparts ofof thethe World.World. AsAs shownshown bbyy TTableable 2,2, thisthis nutritiousnutritious cropcrop hhasas beenbeen soso wwidelyidely eembracedmbraced byby OldOld WWorldorld ppopulationsopulations tthathat ttodayoday tthehe ttopop cconsumersonsumers ooff ppota-ota- ttoesoes areare allall OldOld WWorldorld ccountries.ountries. RRecently,ecently, twotwo studiesstudies havehave attemptedattempted toto estimateestimate empiricallyempirically thethe benefibenefi ttss thatthat aaroserose fromfrom tthehe iintroductionntroduction ooff tthehe ppotato.otato. MMokyrokyr ((1981)1981) eexaminesxamines vvariationariation aacrosscross 170 Journal of Economic Perspectives

Table 2 Top Consuming Countries for Various New World Foods (average calories per capita per day)

Maize Cassava Sweet Potatoes

Country Consumption Country Consumption Country Consumption

Lesotho 1,508 Congo, Dem. Rep. 925 Solomon Islands 457 Malawi 1,151 Congo 688 Rwanda 330 Mexico 1,093 Angola 668 Burundi 293 Zambia 1,058 Mozambique 650 Uganda 228 South Africa 924 Ghana 639 China 106 Zimbabwe 903Benin 470Timor-Leste 64 Guatemala 835 Liberia 451 Madagascar 59 Timor-Leste 808 Togo 393 Cuba 57 El Salvador 772 Madagascar 382 Tanzania 57 Kenya 766 Central African Rep. 374 Haiti 45

Potatoes Tomatoes Pineapples

Country Consumption Country Consumption Country Consumption

Belarus 320 Greece 68 Costa Rica 84 Latvia 258 Libya 47 Thailand 26 Estonia 255 United Arab Emirates 45 Kenya 20 Lithuania 248 Egypt 44 Philippines 14 Ukraine 248 Turkey 42 Samoa 11 Poland 242 Italy 38 Venezuela 10 Portugal 221 Lebanon 33 Antigua and Barbuda 8 United Kingdom 221 Tunisia 32 Australia 8 Russian Federation 217 Israel 29 Malaysia 8 Ireland 209 Cuba 26 Swaziland 8

Source: The data are from the FAO’s Consumption Database. See 〈http://faostat.fao.org/〉. Notes: The table reports average consumption per capita for the top ten countries consuming each New World Crop. Bold text indicates consumption of Old World countries. ccountiesounties iinn IrelandIreland andand estimatesestimates thatthat thethe cultivationcultivation ofof thethe potatopotato diddid spurspur popu-popu- llationation growth.growth. IInn NunnNunn andand QianQian ((2009),2009), wewe alsoalso eexaminexamine tthehe eeffectsffects ofof thethe potatopotato oonn populationpopulation growthgrowth butbut dodo soso forfor thethe entireentire OldOld World.World. UUsingsing a ddifference-in-ifference-in- ddifferencesifferences estimationestimation strategy,strategy, wwee ccompareompare tthehe ppre-re- aandnd post-adoptionpost-adoption ddifferencesifferences iinn populationpopulation growthgrowth ofof OldOld WWorldorld ccountriesountries tthathat ccouldould aadoptdopt thethe potatopotato withwith OldOld WWorldorld ccountriesountries tthathat ccouldould nnot.ot. WWee fi ndnd thatthat thethe potatopotato hadhad a ssignifiignifi cantcant positivepositive iimpactmpact oonn ppopulationopulation growth,growth, explainingexplaining 1212 percentpercent ofof thethe increaseincrease inin averageaverage ppopulationopulation aafterfter tthehe aadoptiondoption ooff tthehe ppotato.otato. WWee aalsolso eestimatestimate tthehe eeffectffect tthehe ppotatootato hhadad onon urbanization,urbanization, a mmeasureeasure tthathat iiss ccloselylosely correlatedcorrelated withwith GDP.GDP. WeWe fi nndd tthathat 4477 ppercentercent ofof thethe post-adoptionpost-adoption increaseincrease inin urbanizationurbanization isis explainedexplained byby thethe potato.potato. WWee nnowow turnturn ttoo a discussiondiscussion ofof cropscrops thatthat provideprovide fewerfewer calories,calories, butbut areare nono lessless iimportantmportant toto OldOld WWorldorld ccuisines:uisines: ccapsicumapsicum ppeppers,eppers, ttomatoes,omatoes, ccacao,acao, aandnd vanilla,vanilla, aandnd twotwo lessless healthyhealthy NewNew WorldWorld ccrops,rops, ccocaoca aandnd ttobacco.obacco. The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas 171

CCapsicumapsicum PPepperseppers TThehe ccapsicumapsicum ppepperepper originatedoriginated inin thethe areasareas thatthat todaytoday areare BoliviaBolivia andand ssouthernouthern Brazil.Brazil. ByBy thethe arrivalarrival ofof thethe Europeans,Europeans, thethe plantplant hadhad migratedmigrated toto MMesoamericaesoamerica andand thethe Caribbean.Caribbean. Capsicum annuum, whichwhich waswas domesticateddomesticated inin MMesoamerica,esoamerica, isis thethe ancestorancestor ttoo mmostost ooff tthehe ppepperseppers ccommonlyommonly cconsumedonsumed today:today: tthehe ccayenneayenne pepper,pepper, bellbell peppers,peppers, andand thethe jalapeñojalapeño pepper.pepper. A secondsecond variety,variety, Capsicum frutescens, fi rrstst ccultivatedultivated inin thethe AmazonAmazon basin,basin, givesgives usus tthehe ttabascoabasco ppepperepper ((Andrews,Andrews, 11992,992, 882–83).2–83). BByy 11493,493, capsicumcapsicum pepperspeppers hadhad arrivedarrived inin SpainSpain andand Africa.Africa. TheyThey thenthen reachedreached tthehe EastEast IIndiesndies bbyy 11540540 aandnd IIndiandia bbyy 11542542 ((Andrews,Andrews, 11993a,993a, 1993b).1993b). InIn Hungary,Hungary, ppaprika,aprika, tthehe spicespice mademade fromfrom ggrindingrinding ddriedried ffruitsruits ooff thethe capsicumcapsicum pepper,pepper, isis fi rstrst mmentionedentioned inin 1569.1569. PaprikaPaprika hashas sincesince beenbeen widelywidely adoptedadopted inin a varietyvariety ofof HungarianHungarian ddishes,ishes, iincludingncluding ggoulash,oulash, aandnd ttodayoday iiss tthehe ccountry’sountry’s nnationalational spicespice (Halasz,(Halasz, 1963).1963). TThehe capsicumcapsicum hhasas alsoalso hadhad a signifisignifi ccantant impactimpact onon thethe cuisinecuisine ofof manymany otherother coun-coun- ttries.ries. InIn SouthSouth aandnd SouthSouth EastEast AAsia,sia, ssomeome fformorm ooff ppepperepper iiss uusedsed inin thethe basebase ofof aalmostlmost eeveryvery ddishish ((forfor eexample,xample, ccurries).urries). IInn CChina,hina, ccuisineuisine iinn tthehe ssouthwestouthwest ((likelike SSichuan,ichuan, GGuizhou,uizhou, andand Hunan)Hunan) areare defidefi nedned byby usesuses ofof ccertainertain chilichili peppers.peppers. InIn KKorea,orea, a sideside dishdish ooff sspicypicy kkimchiimchi iiss cconsumedonsumed wwithith eeveryvery mmeal.eal. CCapsicumsapsicums provideprovide sseveraleveral healthhealth advantages.advantages. First,First, ttheyhey aarere veryvery nutritious.nutritious. ByBy wweight,eight, theythey containcontain moremore vitaminvitamin A thanthan anyany otherother foodfood plant,plant, andand theythey areare alsoalso rrichich inin VitaminVitamin B.B. IfIf eateneaten raw,raw, capsicumscapsicums provideprovide moremore vitaminvitamin C thanthan citruscitrus fruits.fruits. CCapsicumsapsicums aalsolso ccontainontain ssignifiignifi ccantant amountsamounts ofof mmagnesiumagnesium andand ironiron (Andrews,(Andrews, 11992,992, pp.. 285).285). Chilies,Chilies, ofof ccourse,ourse, aarere nnotot eeatenaten inin vastvast qquantities,uantities, bbutut fforor ppopulationsopulations wwithith ttraditionalraditional dietsdiets defidefi ccientient iinn vvitaminsitamins aandnd mminerals,inerals, eevenven a ssmallmall aamountmount ccanan bbee iimportant.mportant. Second,Second, capsicumscapsicums alsoalso aidaid digestion.digestion. Capsaicin,Capsaicin, anan alkaloidalkaloid uniquelyuniquely ffoundound inin capsicums,capsicums, isis anan irritantirritant toto thethe oraloral andand gastrointestinalgastrointestinal mmembranesembranes wwhenhen iingestedngested ((Viranuvatti,Viranuvatti, KKalayasiri,alayasiri, Chearani,Chearani, andand Plengvanit,Plengvanit, 1972).1972). ThisThis causescauses anan iincreasencrease inin thethe fl owow ofof ssaliva,aliva, wwhichhich easeseases thethe passagepassage ofof ffoodood tthroughhrough thethe mouthmouth toto tthehe stomachstomach aandnd iincreasesncreases gastricgastric acids,acids, whichwhich aidaid inin thethe digestiondigestion ofof foodfood (Solanke,(Solanke, 11973).973). IfIf ingestedingested inin largelarge quantities,quantities, thisthis samesame alkaloidalkaloid cancan causecause oraloral burning,burning, wwhichhich cancan bbee removedremoved byby caseincasein (Henkin,(Henkin, 1991).1991). (Since(Since caseincasein isis mostmost readilyreadily avail-avail- aableble ffromrom mmilkilk aandnd yyoghurt,oghurt, iitt iiss nnotot ssurprisingurprising tthathat mmanyany sspicypicy ddiets,iets, ssuchuch aass tthosehose ffromrom SSouthouth AAsia,sia, ppairair cchilieshilies wwithith mmilkilk aandnd yyoghurt.)oghurt.) Finally,Finally, capsaicincapsaicin isis nownow beingbeing uutilizedtilized inin medicinemedicine toto treattreat ppain,ain, rrespiratoryespiratory ddisorders,isorders, sshingles,hingles, ttoothache,oothache, aandnd aarthritisrthritis (Rozin,(Rozin, 1990).1990). ResearchResearch intointo itsits variousvarious propertiesproperties isis ongoing.ongoing.

TTomatoesomatoes TTomatoesomatoes aarere a fruitfruit thatthat originatedoriginated inin SouthSouth America.America. BotanistsBotanists believebelieve thatthat aapproximatelypproximately 11,000,000 yearsyears beforebefore thethe SpanishSpanish arrivedarrived inin thethe Americas,Americas, anan unidentifiunidentifi eded wwildild aancestorncestor ooff tthehe ttomatoomato mmadeade iitsts wwayay nnorthorth aandnd ccameame ttoo bbee ccultivatedultivated inin SouthSouth aandnd CentralCentral AmericaAmerica (Smith,(Smith, 1994,1994, p.p. 17).17). TheThe tomatotomato isis fi rrstst mmentionedentioned inin EuropeanEuropean ttextsexts inin 1544.1544. MathiolusMathiolus describeddescribed howhow tomatoes,tomatoes, pomi d’oro ((goldengolden aapple),pple), wwereere eeatenaten inin ItalyItaly withwith oil,oil, ssalt,alt, aandnd ppepper,epper, suggestingsuggesting thatthat thethe fi rrstst ttomatoesomatoes iinn EuropeEurope wwereere yyellowellow aandnd nnotot rreded (Gould,(Gould, 1983,1983, pp.pp. 30–53).30–53). EuropeanEuropean cultivationcultivation bbecameecame 172 Journal of Economic Perspectives

wwidespreadidespread inin thethe ensuingensuing decadesdecades inin Spain,Spain, Italy,Italy, andand inin France.France. TheThe fi rstrst ddocumentedocumented aauthenticuthentic rrecipeecipe inin ItalyItaly appearedappeared inin 16921692 inin anan earlyearly ItalianItalian cookbook,cookbook, Lo scalco alla moderna, bbyy AAntoniontonio LLatini.atini. TTomatoesomatoes wwereere bbroughtrought ttoo AAsiasia bbyy SSpaniardspaniards wwhoho vvisitedisited tthehe PPhilippineshilippines iinn 11564.564. HHowever,owever, iinn CChina,hina, wwherehere ttheyhey wwereere rregardedegarded aass ffoodsoods ooff tthehe ““southernsouthern barbarians,”barbarians,” theythey werewere notnot cultivatedcultivated untiluntil thethe twentiethtwentieth centurycentury (Anderson,(Anderson, 11988,988, p.p. 94).94). InIn NorthNorth Africa,Africa, EnglishEnglish travelerstravelers rreportedeported thatthat SpanishSpanish tomates wwereere culti-culti- vvatedated inin fi eldselds ofof NNorthorth BarbaryBarbary asas earlyearly asas 16711671 ((McCue,McCue, 11952,952, pp.. 3330).30). OOnene ofof tthehe ddiffiiffi cultiesculties inin consumingconsuming tomatoestomatoes waswas thatthat theythey diddid notnot preservepreserve wwell.ell. RipeRipe tomatoestomatoes cancan becomebecome putridputrid wwithinithin ddaysays iinn hhotot cclimates.limates. TheThe canningcanning pprocessrocess helpedhelped increaseincrease thethe shelfshelf lifelife ofof thethe tomatotomato toto severalseveral months,months, butbut priorprior toto 11890,890, itit waswas a costlycostly mmanualanual process.process. TThehe mechanizationmechanization ofof canningcanning atat thethe turnturn ofof tthehe ttwentiethwentieth centurycentury signifisignifi cantlycantly loweredlowered thethe costcost ooff tthishis pprocessrocess aandnd rresultedesulted inin a ssignifiignifi cantcant increaseincrease inin tomatotomato consumptionconsumption (Gould,(Gould, 1983,1983, pp.pp. 30–53).30–53). TTomatoesomatoes havehave ttrulyruly bbecomeecome a globalglobal ffood.ood. AsAs shownshown iinn TTableable 22,, nnineine ooff tthehe ttopop tenten tomato-consumingtomato-consuming countriescountries areare OldOld WWorldorld ccountries.ountries. GGreecereece cconsumesonsumes tthehe mostmost ttomatoesomatoes pperer ccapita,apita, ffollowedollowed byby otherother MediterraneanMediterranean andand MiddleMiddle EasternEastern ccountries.ountries. Italy,Italy, knownknown forfor itsits useuse ofof tomatotomato saucessauces withwith pastapasta andand onon pizza,pizza, ranksranks ssixthixth onon thethe list.list. TableTable 3 listslists thethe toptop tenten producersproducers ofof somesome NewNew andand OldOld WWorldorld ffoods.oods. TThehe toptop producersproducers ooff ttomatoesomatoes aarere llistedisted inin ppanelanel A ofof thethe table;table; eighteight ooff tthehe ttopop tenten producersproducers areare OldOld WorldWorld ccountries,ountries, wwithith oonlynly ttwowo NNewew WorldWorld ccountries,ountries, BBrazilrazil andand Mexico,Mexico, breakingbreaking thethe listlist ofof ttopop tomatotomato producers.producers. AAlthoughlthough notnot particularlyparticularly richrich inin calories,calories, tomatoestomatoes areare anan importantimportant sourcesource ooff vvitamins,itamins, particularlyparticularly vitaminsvitamins A andand C.C. TheThe tomatotomato hashas beenbeen soso thoroughlythoroughly aadopteddopted andand integratedintegrated intointo WesternWestern dietsdiets thatthat todaytoday itit providesprovides moremore nutrientsnutrients aandnd vvitaminsitamins thanthan anyany otherother fruitfruit oror vegetablevegetable ((Sokolov,Sokolov, 11993,993, p.p. 108).108). MedicalMedical rresearchersesearchers havehave aalsolso rrecentlyecently ddiscoverediscovered a nnumberumber ooff aadditionaldditional hhealthealth bbenefienefi ttss ffromrom ttomatoomato cconsumption.onsumption. RRecentecent researchresearch hashas foundfound thatthat lycopene,lycopene, a ppowerfulowerful aantioxidantntioxidant ccontainedontained iinn ccookedooked oror cannedcanned tomatoes,tomatoes, hashas propertiesproperties thatthat maymay helphelp rreduceeduce cancercancer (for(for example,example, BasuBasu andand Imrhan,Imrhan, 2007).2007). AlthoughAlthough researchresearch isis stillstill inin pprogress,rogress, thethe AmericanAmerican CancerCancer SocietySociety hashas alreadyalready begunbegun toto promotepromote iincreasedncreased cconsumptiononsumption ooff ttomatoesomatoes asas a potentialpotential methodmethod forfor cancercancer prevention.prevention.

CCacaoacao TThehe CodexCodex Mendoza—anMendoza—an AztecAztec recordrecord ofof administrationadministration andand descriptiondescription ofof ddailyaily life,life, writtenwritten approximatelyapproximately 2020 yearsyears afterafter thethe SpanishSpanish conquestconquest ooff MMexico—exico— ddocumentsocuments thatthat bbyy tthehe ttimeime CCortesortes aarrived,rrived, chocolatechocolate waswas beingbeing ccultivatedultivated byby ffarmersarmers iinn tthehe YYucatanucatan aandnd wwasas ttradedraded inin largelarge qquantitiesuantities tthroughouthroughout thethe EmpireEmpire ((Prescott,Prescott, 1843,1843, p.p. 11;11; West,West, 11992,992, pp.. 1108).08). HistoricalHistorical rrecordsecords indicateindicate thatthat ColumbusColumbus fi rstrst broughtbrought bbackack sspecimenspecimens ooff ccacaoacao ppodsods ttoo KKinging FFerdinanderdinand I aafterfter hhisis ssecondecond vvoyageoyage ttoo tthehe NewNew World.World. OOutsideutside ooff tthehe AAmericas,mericas, ccacaoacao waswas fi rstrst ccultivatedultivated inin 11590590 bbyy tthehe SpanishSpanish offoff thethe coastcoast ofof AfricaAfrica onon thethe islandisland ofof FernandoFernando PoPo (West,(West, 1992,1992, ppp.p. 110–111).110–111). AtAt fi rrst,st, itit waswas usedused inin expensiveexpensive chocolatechocolate drinks,drinks, mainlymainly conficonfi nedned toto aaristocraticristocratic ccourts.ourts. FFromrom SSpain,pain, iitt sspreadpread ttoo IItaly,taly, aandnd tthenhen ttoo FFrancerance vviaia tthehe rroyaloyal mmarriagearriage ooff PPhiliphilip IIII’sII’s ddaughter,aughter, AAnana ooff AAustria,ustria, wwithith LLouisouis XXIII.III. IInn EEngland,ngland, Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian 173

SSamuelamuel PPepys,epys, tthehe rrenownedenowned sseventeentheventeenth centurycentury diarist,diarist, recordsrecords thatthat chocolatechocolate ddrinksrinks cchangedhanged fromfrom bbeingeing nnoveltyovelty drinksdrinks ttoo a rregularegular luncheonluncheon beveragebeverage ooff tthehe mmiddleiddle cclasslass duringduring hhisis llifetimeifetime ((McLeod,McLeod, 2001).2001). TThehe SSpanishpanish hheldeld a mmonopolyonopoly oonn pproductionroduction aandnd ttraderade ooff ccacaoacao uupp uuntilntil tthehe sseventeentheventeenth centurycentury whenwhen thethe FrenchFrench beganbegan cacaocacao productionproduction inin MartiniqueMartinique aandnd SSaintaint LLucia.ucia. TThehe DDutchutch aalsolso bbeganegan pproductionroduction ooff ccacaoacao iinn IIndonesia,ndonesia, wwhichhich wwasas tthehe DDutchutch EastEast IIndiesndies aatt tthehe ttime.ime. EEvenven ttoday,oday, asas shownshown bbyy PPanelanel A ofof TableTable 3,3, IIndonesiandonesia remainsremains oneone ofof thethe largestlargest producersproducers ofof cacaocacao beans.beans. CacaoCacao cultivationcultivation ccameame llateate ttoo mainlandmainland Africa,Africa, withwith CameroonCameroon andand GhanaGhana beingbeing thethe fi rrstst cultivatorscultivators iinn tthehe llateate 1870s1870s andand 11880s880s ((West,West, 11992,992, ppp.p. 116–18).116–18). ButBut today,today, thethe WestWest AAfricanfrican ccountriesountries ofof Cameroon,Cameroon, CoteCote d’Ivoire,d’Ivoire, Ghana,Ghana, andand NigeriaNigeria areare amongamong thethe world’sworld’s llargestargest producersproducers ooff ccacaoacao beans,beans, withwith CoteCote d’Ivoired’Ivoire beingbeing thethe largestlargest producerproducer inin tthehe worldworld ((again,again, sseeee PPanelanel A ooff TTableable 33).). WWhilehile chocolatechocolate isis mostmost ppopularlyopularly cconsumedonsumed asas a condiment,condiment, candycandy oror dessert,dessert, ccacaoacao iiss alsoalso a highhigh energyenergy foodfood knownknown forfor lliftingifting psychologicalpsychological effects.effects. PurePure choco-choco- llate,ate, whichwhich isis moremore thanthan halfhalf cocoacocoa butter,butter, hashas a higherhigher energyenergy outputoutput perper unitunit ofof wweighteight tthanhan mmostost ootherther ccarbohydrate-arbohydrate- oror protein-richprotein-rich ffoods.oods. TThishis hhasas mmadeade iitt aann iimportantmportant foodfood forfor physicallyphysically taxingtaxing eexpeditionsxpeditions wwherehere ttravelersravelers nneededeeded toto mini-mini- mmizeize tthehe foodfood ccarried.arried. FForor example,example, iinn RRoaldoald Amundsen’sAmundsen’s trektrek toto thethe SouthSouth Pole,Pole, hhisis mmenen wwereere aallocatedllocated 44,560,560 caloriescalories perper day,day, ofof whichwhich overover 1,0001,000 camecame fromfrom ccacaoacao ((West,West, 11992,992, pp.pp. 117–18).117–18).

PPlainlain VanillaVanilla VVanillaanilla waswas completelycompletely unknownunknown toto thethe OldOld WWorldorld ppriorrior ttoo 11492,492, bbutut ddespiteespite hhavingaving llittleittle nutritionalnutritional importance,importance, itit hashas becomebecome soso widespreadwidespread andand soso commoncommon tthathat iinn EnglishEnglish itsits namename isis usedused asas anan adjectiveadjective toto referrefer toto anythinganything thatthat isis “plain,“plain, oordinary,rdinary, oorr cconventional.”onventional.” VVanillaanilla ccomesomes fromfrom tthehe ttropicalropical fforestsorests ooff eeasternastern aandnd ssouthernouthern Mexico,Mexico, CentralCentral America,America, andand northernnorthern SouthSouth America.America. ItIt isis fromfrom tthehe ffruitruit ofof Vanilla planifolia, thethe onlyonly speciesspecies ofof thethe orchidorchid familyfamily thatthat producesproduces eedibledible ffruit.ruit. NeitherNeither thethe vanillavanilla fl owerower nornor itsits fruit,fruit, whichwhich takestakes thethe shapeshape ofof a longlong pod,pod, nnaturallyaturally hhasas aanyny nnoticeableoticeable fl aavorvor oror scent.scent. VanillaVanilla podspods mustmust bebe fermentedfermented toto pproduceroduce tthehe cchemicalhemical ccompoundompound vvanillin,anillin, wwhichhich givesgives thethe podspods theirtheir distinctivedistinctive vvanillaanilla fl aavorvor aandnd sscentcent ((Rain,Rain, 11992,992, pp.. 337).7). IItt iiss uunclearnclear whetherwhether vanillavanilla waswas fi rstrst broughtbrought bbackack ttoo SSpainpain bbyy CCortesortes oorr anotheranother SSpanishpanish traveler.traveler. IInn aanyny ccase,ase, iitt aachievedchieved popularitypopularity quicklyquickly inin Spain,Spain, wherewhere factoriesfactories wwereere usingusing itit toto fl avoravor cchocolatehocolate bbyy tthehe ssecondecond hhalfalf ooff tthehe ssixteenthixteenth ccentury.entury. LLikeike cchocolate,hocolate, itit waswas consideredconsidered a luxuryluxury forfor thethe wealthy.wealthy. KingKing PhillipPhillip IIII waswas knownknown toto hhaveave drunkdrunk vanilla-flvanilla-fl avoredavored chocolatechocolate asas a nightcap.nightcap. ItIt waswas alsoalso quicklyquickly adoptedadopted byby aaristocraticristocratic ccirclesircles inin ootherther partsparts ofof EEurope.urope. QueenQueen ElizabethElizabeth I ofof EnglandEngland waswas alsoalso kknownnown ttoo hhaveave bbeeneen a ffrequentrequent uuserser ofof vvanillaanilla pproductsroducts ((Rain,Rain, 11992,992, pp.. 440).0). IInn tthehe eighteentheighteenth ccentury,entury, tthehe FFrenchrench bbeganegan ttoo uusese iitt wwidelyidely aass a fl avoringavoring fforor cconfectionariesonfectionaries andand ice,ice, andand alsoalso asas a scentscent forfor perfumesperfumes andand tobacco.tobacco. FrenchFrench ccolo-olo- nnialial islandsislands beganbegan toto attemptattempt toto systematicallysystematically cultivatecultivate cuttingscuttings ofof thethe plantplant takentaken ffromrom tthehe AAmericas.mericas. HHowever,owever, bbecauseecause ooff a llackack ooff pproperroper iinsectsnsects fforor ppollination,ollination, 174 Journal of Economic Perspectives

Table 3 Largest Producers of New and Old World Foods (millions of tonnes unless otherwise indicated)

Panel A: Ten Largest Producers of New World Foods

Potatoes Chili Peppers, Dry Chili Peppers, Green

Country Production Country Production Country Production

China 66.32 India 0.98 China 9.44 Russia 33.98 China 0.21 Mexico 1.73 India 24.71 Pakistan 0.17 Turkey 1.48 Poland 24.23 Bangladesh 0.14 Spain 0.95 United States 23.30 Ethiopia 0.12 United States 0.91 Ukraine 19.84 Viet Nam 0.08 Indonesia 0.73 Germany 13.69 Peru 0.06 Nigeria 0.72 Belarus 8.72 Mexico 0.06 Egypt 0.43 Netherlands 8.23 Myanmar 0.05 South Korea 0.39 UK 6.64 Nigeria 0.05 Italy 0.36

Tomatoes Cacao Beans Tobacco

Country Production Country Production Country Production

China 22.32 Côte d’Ivoire 1.40 China 2.56 United States 11.56 Ghana 0.44 Brazil 0.58 Turkey 8.89 Indonesia 0.42 India 0.52 Italy 7.54 Nigeria 0.34 United States 0.48 India 7.43 Brazil 0.20 Zimbabwe 0.23 Egypt 6.79 Cameroon 0.12 Turkey 0.20 Spain 3.77 Ecuador 0.10 Indonesia 0.15 Iran 3.19 Malaysia 0.07 Greece 0.14 Brazil 2.98 Papua New Guinea 0.05 Italy 0.13 Mexico 2.67 Colombia 0.04 Argentina 0.11

Vanilla (1,000s tonnes) Natural Rubber Maize

Country Production Country Production Country Production

Indonesia 1.68 Thailand 2.38 United States 251.85 Madagascar 0.88 Indonesia 1.50 China 106.18 China 0.65 Malaysia 0.93 Brazil 31.88 Mexico 0.26 India 0.63 Mexico 17.56 Comoros 0.14 China 0.48 Argentina 16.78 Tonga 0.13 Viet Nam 0.29 France 16.02 Turkey 0.10 Côte d’Ivoire 0.12 India 12.04 Uganda 0.04 Nigeria 0.11 South Africa 11.43 French Polynesia 0.04 Liberia 0.11 Italy 10.14 Réunion 0.03 Brazil 0.09 Indonesia 9.68 iinitialnitial attemptsattempts endedended inin failurefailure (Bruman,(Bruman, 1948,1948, pp.pp. 371–72).371–72). ItIt waswas notnot untiluntil afterafter 11836,836, wwhenhen BelgianBelgian botanistbotanist CCharlesharles MMorrenorren wwasas aableble ttoo hhand-pollinateand-pollinate vvanillaanilla oorchids,rchids, thatthat thethe FrenchFrench werewere successfullysuccessfully cultivatingcultivating plantsplants thatthat fl oweredowered ((Morren,Morren, 11838).838). AsAs shownshown iinn PPanelanel A ofof TableTable 3,3, thethe FrenchFrench colonialcolonial islandsislands ofof RéunionRéunion andand The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas 175

Table 3 (continued)

Panel B: Ten Largest Producers of Old World Foods

Sugar Cane Coffee (Green) Soybeans

Country Production Country Production Country Production

Brazil 327.70 Brazil 1.90 United States 75.06 India 299.23 Viet Nam 0.80 Brazil 32.73 China 69.30 Colombia 0.64 Argentina 20.14 Thailand 54.05 Indonesia 0.55 China 15.41 Pakistan 46.33 Côte d’Ivoire 0.38 India 5.28 Mexico 44.10 Mexico 0.34 Paraguay 2.98 Australia 38.16 Guatemala 0.31 Canada 2.70 Cuba 36.40 India 0.29 Bolivia 1.20 Colombia 33.40 Ethiopia 0.23 Indonesia 1.02 United States 32.76 Honduras 0.19 Italy 0.90

Oranges Bananas

Country Production Country Production

Brazil 21.33 India 14.14 United States 11.79 Ecuador 6.48 Mexico 3.81 Brazil 5.66 India 2.67 China 5.14 Spain 2.62 Philippines 4.93 Italy 1.88 Indonesia 3.75 Iran 1.84 Costa Rica 2.18 Egypt 1.61 Mexico 1.86 Pakistan 1.33 Thailand 1.75 China 1.18 Colombia 1.61

Source: Data are from the FAO’s ProdSTAT Database. Notes: The table reports the ten countries that are the largest producers of Old World and New World food crops. Bold text indicates an Old World country producing a New World food crop, or a New World country producing a Old World food crop. All production fi gures are in millions of tonnes for the year 2000, except for Vanilla which are reported in thousands of tonnes.

FFrenchrench PPolynesiaolynesia andand thethe formerformer colonialcolonial islandisland ofof ComorosComoros continuecontinue toto bebe largelarge ssuppliersuppliers ofof vanillavanilla today.today. MexicoMexico alsoalso continuescontinues toto bebe a largelarge producerproducer ofof vanilla,vanilla, aalthoughlthough iitsts pproductionroduction iiss eexceededxceeded bbyy IIndonesia,ndonesia, Madagascar,Madagascar, aandnd CChina.hina.

TTobaccoobacco IItt isis believedbelieved thatthat NativeNative AmericansAmericans beganbegan toto useuse tobaccotobacco aroundaround thethe fi rstrst ccenturyentury BCE.BCE. ThereThere iiss nnoo eevidencevidence thatthat NativeNative AmericansAmericans everever consumedconsumed tobaccotobacco rrecreationally.ecreationally. ItIt waswas insteadinstead usedused asas a hallucinogenhallucinogen duringduring religiousreligious ceremoniesceremonies aandnd aass a ppainkiller.ainkiller. RRamonamon PPane,ane, a mmonkonk whowho accompaniedaccompanied ColumbusColumbus onon hishis ssecondecond voyage,voyage, gavegave lengthylengthy descriptionsdescriptions aboutabout thethe customcustom ofof smokingsmoking tobacco.tobacco. HHee ddescribedescribed hhowow nnativesatives iinhalednhaled ssmokemoke tthroughhrough a Y-shapedY-shaped ttube.ube. TThehe ttwowo eendsnds wwereere placedplaced inin thethe nostrilsnostrils andand thethe thirdthird endend overover a pastillepastille ofof burningburning leaves.leaves. AAlthoughlthough thethe exactexact mmanneranner ooff ssmokingmoking ddifferediffered bbetweenetween regionsregions withinwithin thethe 176 Journal of Economic Perspectives

AAmericas,mericas, thethe practicepractice ofof smokingsmoking tobaccotobacco appearsappears toto havehave beenbeen universaluniversal (Penn,(Penn, 11901,901, ppp.p. 55–11).–11). TTobaccoobacco wwasas qquicklyuickly aadopteddopted bbyy Europeans.Europeans. AtAt fi rstrst ttobaccoobacco wwasas rregardedegarded aandnd consumedconsumed onlyonly asas a medicine.medicine. InIn 1560,1560, thethe FrenchFrench ambassadorambassador toto Portugal,Portugal, JJeanean NNicoticot dede VillemainVillemain (from(from wwhomhom tthehe ttermerm ““nicotine”nicotine” ooriginates),riginates), pproclaimedroclaimed tthathat ttobaccoobacco hhadad a ppanaceaanacea ooff mmedicinaledicinal pproperties.roperties. InIn 1561,1561, NicotNicot sentsent tobaccotobacco lleaveseaves ttoo CCatherineatherine ddee MMedici,edici, thethe QueenQueen ofof France.France. SheShe waswas soso impressedimpressed withwith thethe pplantlant tthathat sshehe ddecreedecreed thatthat tobaccotobacco bbee ccalledalled HerbaHerba ReginaRegina (the(the Queen’sQueen’s Herb).Herb). IInn England,England, tobaccotobacco waswas fi rstrst introducedintroduced byby SirSir JohnJohn HawkinsHawkins andand hishis crewcrew inin thethe 11580s.580s. ItIt waswas chieflchiefl y usedused byby sailors,sailors, includingincluding thosethose employedemployed byby SirSir FrancisFrancis Drake.Drake. BByy tthehe beginningbeginning ofof tthehe seventeenthseventeenth century,century, tobaccotobacco hadhad spreadspread toto allall partsparts ofof EEuropeurope ((Brooks,Brooks, 1952,1952, p.p. 16).16). BBesidesesides bbeingeing cconsumed,onsumed, tobaccotobacco hashas alsoalso beenbeen usedused asas currencycurrency atat variousvarious ttimes.imes. IInn 11619,619, thethe VirginiaVirginia legislaturelegislature ratedrated high-qualityhigh-quality tobaccotobacco atat threethree shillingsshillings pperer ppoundound aandnd iinn 16421642 mademade itit legallegal tendertender (Henry,(Henry, 1894,1894, p.p. 64;64; Scharf,Scharf, 1879,1879, pp.. 220).220). InIn Maryland,Maryland, nearlynearly allall businessbusiness transactions,transactions, includingincluding debts,debts, fi nes,nes, aandnd ffees,ees, werewere conductedconducted inin termsterms ofof tobacco.tobacco. ForFor example,example, ffeesees fforor marriagemarriage llicensesicenses wwereere ppaidaid iinn ttobacco,obacco, andand lawslaws imposedimposed fi nneses mmeasuredeasured inin ppoundsounds ofof tobaccotobacco ((Scharf,Scharf, 11879,879, ppp.p. 37–38,37–38, 48).48). InIn 1776,1776, duringduring thethe AmericanAmerican RevolutionaryRevolutionary War,War, thethe rrevolutionaryevolutionary governmentgovernment ooff AAmericamerica usedused tobaccotobacco asas collateralcollateral forfor partpart ofof itsits loansloans ffromrom FFrance.rance. TTobacco’sobacco’s uusese aass ccurrencyurrency wwasas nnotot iisolatedsolated ttoo tthehe AAmericanmerican colonies.colonies. IInn Japan,Japan, BBuddhistuddhist mmonksonks uusedsed ttobaccoobacco sseedseeds asas a methodmethod ofof paymentpayment alongalong theirtheir llongong ppilgrimagesilgrimages ((Brooks,Brooks, 11952,952, p.p. 34).34). IInn thethe twentiethtwentieth century,century, tobaccotobacco cconsumptiononsumption bbeganegan ttoo iincreasencrease ddramaticallyramatically aaroundround thethe timetime ofof WorldWorld WarWar I,I, whenwhen cigarettescigarettes werewere commonlycommonly calledcalled “soldier’s“soldier’s ssmoke.”moke.” BeginningBeginning inin thethe 1950s,1950s, medicalmedical researchersresearchers beganbegan toto discoverdiscover negativenegative hhealthealth effectseffects fromfrom smoking.smoking. InIn 1964,1964, thethe U.S.U.S. SurgeonSurgeon GeneralGeneral publishedpublished a reportreport oonn thethe hhealthealth cconsequencesonsequences ooff ssmokingmoking ttitleditled Smoking and Health ((Cochran,Cochran, FFarber,arber, FFrieser,rieser, Furth,Furth, Hickman,Hickman, LLee MMaistre,aistre, SSchuman,chuman, SSeevers,eevers, Bayne-Jones,Bayne-Jones, andand BBurdette,urdette, 11964).964). ThisThis reportreport wwasas aann iimportantmportant sstimulustimulus fforor tthehe eextensivextensive aantismokingntismoking campaignscampaigns tthathat ddevelopedeveloped ooverver tthehe nnextext fourfour decades.decades. AlthoughAlthough smokingsmoking ratesrates havehave declineddeclined inin ddevelopedeveloped countries,countries, tobaccotobacco cconsumptiononsumption continuescontinues ttoo rriseise iinn mmanyany lless-developedess-developed ccountriesountries ((Jha,Jha, 1999,1999, pp.pp. 13–20).13–20). AsAs anan example,example, iinn CChinahina bbetweenetween 19921992 andand 19961996 aalone,lone, perper ccapitaapita ccigaretteigarette cconsumptiononsumption iincreasedncreased bbyy 5500 ppercent,ercent, ffromrom 1100 ttoo 1155 cciga-iga- rrettesettes perper day.day. AccordingAccording toto thethe WorldWorld HHealthealth OOrganization,rganization, ttobaccoobacco iiss ccurrentlyurrently tthehe lleadingeading ccauseause ooff ppreventablereventable ddeatheath ((Mackay,Mackay, Eriksen,Eriksen, aandnd SShafey,hafey, 2006).2006). ItIt isis estimatedestimated tthathat oneone inin everyevery tenten adultadult deathsdeaths isis duedue toto tobaccotobacco cconsumption.onsumption. DDrivenriven bbyy tthehe rrisingising rratesates ooff ssmokingmoking iinn ddevelopingeveloping ccountries,ountries, thisthis fi guregure iiss eexpectedxpected ttoo wworsenorsen toto oneone inin eeveryvery ssixix aadultsdults withinwithin thethe nextnext twotwo decadesdecades (Jha,(Jha, 1999,1999, p.p. 22).22).

CCocaoca CCocaoca lleaveseaves aarere ggrownrown ffromrom bbushesushes nnativeative ttoo tthehe AAndes.ndes. TThehe lleaveseaves ccontainontain aalkaloidslkaloids tthathat ccanan bbee eextractedxtracted toto produceproduce ccommercialommercial ccocaine.ocaine. TThehe uusese ofof cocacoca lleaveseaves hhasas a llongong hhistory.istory. DDuringuring tthehe IIncanncan EEmpire,mpire, ttheyhey wwereere chewedchewed duringduring Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian 177

rreligiouseligious rituals.rituals. EarlyEarly SpanishSpanish settlerssettlers adoptedadopted thisthis practicepractice andand broughtbrought itit backback ttoo Europe.Europe. ManyMany notablenotable fi gures,gures, ssuchuch aass SSigmundigmund Freud,Freud, becamebecame regularregular usersusers aandnd aactivective pproponentsroponents ooff iitsts aabilitybility ttoo iincreasencrease creativitycreativity andand stamina,stamina, aandnd ddecreaseecrease hhunger.unger. FFreudreud ssupposedlyupposedly bbeganegan uusingsing iitt aafterfter hhearingearing ooff tthehe BBelgianelgian aarmy’srmy’s eexperi-xperi- mmentsents iinn givinggiving ccocaoca eextractsxtracts toto itsits soldiers,soldiers, wwhoho performedperformed betterbetter onon llessess ffoodood overover llongeronger pperiodseriods ooff ttime.ime. TThehe mmostost ffamousamous llegalegal uusese ooff ccocaoca iiss uundoubtedlyndoubtedly wwithith tthehe ssoftoft drinkdrink Coca-Cola,Coca-Cola, whichwhich initiallyinitially containedcontained marinatedmarinated cocacoca leaves.leaves. TheThe softsoft ddrinkrink waswas inventedinvented byby AtlantaAtlanta pharmacistpharmacist JonJon PembertonPemberton asas a stimulatingstimulating beveragebeverage tthathat sservederved asas a substitutesubstitute forfor alcoholalcohol atat a ttimeime whenwhen thethe salesale ofof aalcohollcohol wwasas iillegalllegal iinn AtlantaAtlanta (Hobhouse,(Hobhouse, 22005,005, ppp.p. 3310–13).10–13). TToday,oday, ccocaineocaine iiss oonene ooff tthehe mmostost hhighlyighly ttradedraded iillegalllegal ssubstancesubstances iinn tthehe wworld.orld. AAlthoughlthough thethe consumptionconsumption ofof cocainecocaine hashas spreadspread toto allall cornerscorners ofof thethe globe,globe, onlyonly tthreehree NewNew WorldWorld countries—Colombia,countries—Colombia, Peru,Peru, andand Bolivia—produceBolivia—produce thethe world’sworld’s ssupplyupply ooff ccocaoca lleaves.eaves. IInn 22008,008, CColombiaolombia pproducedroduced 6262 percent,percent, PeruPeru producedproduced 2288 percent,percent, aandnd BBoliviaolivia producedproduced 1010 percentpercent ofof thethe world’sworld’s ssupplyupply ((U.N.U.N. OffiOffi cece onon DDrugsrugs andand Crime,Crime, 2008,2008, p.p. 70).70). TheThe cocacoca industryindustry aaccountsccounts fforor a ssignifiignifi cantcant portionportion ooff incomeincome iinn thesethese countries.countries. ItIt isis estimatedestimated thatthat thethe cocacoca leafleaf byby itselfitself accountsaccounts fforor 2.32.3 percentpercent ofof Bolivia’sBolivia’s GDP,GDP, andand 1616 percentpercent ofof itsits totaltotal agriculturalagricultural produc-produc- ttionion (U.N.(U.N. OffiOffi cece onon DrugsDrugs andand Crime,Crime, 2008,2008, p.p. 233).233). InIn Colombia,Colombia, a countrycountry withwith a muchmuch largerlarger eeconomy,conomy, tthehe aanalogousnalogous numbersnumbers areare smaller,smaller, butbut stillstill ssignifiignifi cant:cant: 00.5.5 andand 5 percentpercent (U.N.(U.N. OffiOffi cece onon DrugsDrugs andand Crime,Crime, 2009,2009, p.p. 6).6).

IImprovedmproved CCultivationultivation ooff OOldld WWorldorld FoodsFoods inin thethe NewNew WWorldorld

AAfterfter CColumbus’olumbus’ voyagesvoyages ttoo tthehe Americas,Americas, iitt waswas soonsoon discovereddiscovered thatthat certaincertain OOldld WWorldorld ccropsrops wwereere vveryery wwell-suitedell-suited ttoo NNewew WWorldorld cclimates.limates. IInn mmanyany ccases,ases, tthehe OOldld WWorldorld ccropsrops wwereere ggrownrown mmuchuch mmoreore pproductivelyroductively iinn tthehe NNewew WWorldorld ssoilsoils aandnd cclimateslimates thanthan theythey werewere growngrown backback home.home. TableTable 1 indicatesindicates inin italicsitalics OldOld WorldWorld ccropsrops tthathat ttodayoday hhaveave moremore thanthan 2626 percentpercent ofof theirtheir ttotalotal pproductionroduction iinn tthehe NNewew WWorld.orld. WWee cchoosehoose a 2266 ppercentercent ccut-offut-off bbecauseecause tthishis iiss tthehe ffractionraction ooff aarablerable landland llocatedocated inin thethe Americas.Americas. Therefore,Therefore, thethe tabletable highlightshighlights OldOld WorldWorld ccropsrops fforor wwhichhich a disproportionatedisproportionate shareshare ooff ooutpututput (normalized(normalized bbyy arablearable land)land) isis producedproduced inin thethe NNewew World.World. BBecauseecause tthehe AAmericasmericas hhaveave 1166 ppercentercent ooff tthehe wworld’sorld’s ppopulation,opulation, oonn a pperer capitacapita bbasisasis asas well,well, thesethese foodsfoods areare disproportionatelydisproportionately producedproduced inin thethe Americas.Americas. TThehe factfact thatthat OldOld WorldWorld ccropsrops fl oourishedurished inin thethe NewNew World,World, andand NewNew WorldWorld ccropsrops fl oourishedurished iinn tthehe OOld,ld, iiss nnotot jjustust ccoincidence.oincidence. IItt iis,s, iinn ppart,art, tthehe rresultesult ofof twotwo aaspectsspects ofof thethe ColumbianColumbian Exchange.Exchange. First,First, bothboth thethe NewNew WorldWorld aandnd tthehe OOldld WWorldorld ccontainontain continentscontinents thatthat lielie onon a North–SouthNorth–South orientationorientation andand spanspan nearlynearly allall degreesdegrees ooff llatitude.atitude. BecauseBecause climatesclimates changechange mostmost ddrasticallyrastically asas oneone movesmoves North–South,North–South, rratherather tthanhan East–West,East–West, thisthis helpedhelped toto ensureensure thatthat NewNew WorldWorld plantsplants couldcould fi nndd aann OOldld WWorldorld cclimatelimate ssimilarimilar ttoo ttheirheir nnativeative cclimatelimate aandnd vviceice vversa.ersa. SSecond,econd, a bbenefienefi t aalsolso arosearose fromfrom tthehe ttwowo rregionsegions beingbeing isolatedisolated forfor thousandsthousands ofof years.years. TheThe isolationisolation ccausedaused sseparateeparate evolutionsevolutions ofof plants,plants, parasites,parasites, andand pests.pests. Therefore,Therefore, transplantedtransplanted 178 Journal of Economic Perspectives

ccropsrops ooftenften fl ourishedourished becausebecause theythey werewere ableable toto escapeescape thethe pestspests andand parasitesparasites tthathat hhadad coevolvedcoevolved withwith themthem inin theirtheir nativenative habitat.habitat. BecauseBecause ofof thethe greatergreater preva-preva- llenceence ofof pestspests aandnd pparasitesarasites inin tropicaltropical regions,regions, tropicaltropical plantsplants benefibenefi tedted mostmost fromfrom bbeingeing transplantedtransplanted ((Dean,Dean, 11987,987, ppp.p. 559–60).9–60). TThishis bbenefienefi t partiallypartially explainsexplains wwhyhy ttodayoday 5757 percentpercent ofof thethe productionproduction ofof coffeecoffee (which(which originatedoriginated inin thethe OldOld World)World) iiss producedproduced inin thethe NewNew World,World, andand whywhy 9898 percentpercent ofof naturalnatural rubberrubber isis producedproduced iinn tthehe OldOld WWorldorld ffromrom ttransplantedransplanted rrubberubber ttreesrees ooriginallyriginally ffromrom tthehe NNewew WWorld.orld. NNumerousumerous otherother examplesexamples ooff transplantedtransplanted cropscrops exist.exist. ForFor example,example, thethe AmericasAmericas ccurrentlyurrently produceproduce 8844 ppercentercent ooff thethe world’sworld’s ssoybeans,oybeans, 6655 ppercentercent ofof itsits oranges,oranges, aandnd 3355 percentpercent ooff iitsts bbananas.ananas.

SSugarugar CaneCane TThehe mostmost strikingstriking eexamplexample ooff aann OOldld WWorldorld ccroprop tthathat ccouldould bbee mmuchuch mmoreore eeffectivelyffectively cultivatedcultivated inin thethe NewNew WorldWorld iiss ssugarugar cane.cane. MostMost ooff tthehe wworld’sorld’s llandand ssuit-uit- aableble forfor ssugarugar cultivationcultivation lieslies inin thethe Americas,Americas, pparticularlyarticularly iinn LLatinatin AAmericamerica aandnd tthehe CCaribbean.aribbean. SugarSugar ccaneane wwasas fi rrstst ccarriedarried toto thethe NewNew WorldWorld ((fromfrom tthehe SSpanishpanish CCanaryanary IIslands)slands) oonn CColumbus’olumbus’ ssecondecond voyagevoyage inin 14931493 andand waswas fi rstrst cultivatedcultivated inin SpanishSpanish SSantoanto DomingoDomingo ((DominicanDominican RRepublic).epublic). BByy 11509,509, enslavedenslaved AfricansAfricans werewere beingbeing iimportedmported toto thethe island,island, andand byby 1516,1516, sugarsugar waswas beingbeing exportedexported toto Europe.Europe. SoonSoon after,after, tthehe PPortugueseortuguese aalsolso bbroughtrought ssugarugar canecane acrossacross thethe AAtlantic,tlantic, aandnd bbyy 11526,526, ssugarugar waswas bbeingeing exportedexported ffromrom BBrazilrazil ttoo LLisbonisbon ((Mintz,Mintz, 11985,985, ppp.p. 332–33).2–33). BeginningBeginning inin thethe llastast ttwowo ddecadesecades ooff tthehe ssixteenthixteenth century,century, thethe interestsinterests ofof thethe Dutch,Dutch, English,English, andand FFrenchrench aalsolso tturnedurned toto sugarsugar production.production. BetweenBetween 16301630 andand 1660,1660, thethe Dutch,Dutch, English,English, aandnd FrenchFrench bbeganegan ttoo ffoundound ttheirheir oownwn ssugarugar colonies.colonies. TheThe climateclimate inin thethe AmericasAmericas pprovidedrovided ssuchuch aann aadvantagedvantage ttoo NNewew WWorldorld ssugarugar producersproducers tthathat bbyy 11680,680, ssugarugar canecane pproductionroduction waswas dominateddominated byby thethe NewNew WorldWorld ((Galloway,Galloway, 22005,005, ppp.p. 778–83).8–83). OOnene consequenceconsequence ofof thethe large-scalelarge-scale pproductionroduction ooff ssugarugar inin thethe AmericasAmericas waswas tthat,hat, fforor thethe fi rstrst timetime inin humanhuman history,history, ttherehere wwasas a largelarge enoughenough supplysupply ofof thethe ccommodityommodity thatthat iitt ccouldould bbee cconsumedonsumed byby thethe commonercommoner inin Europe.Europe. InIn England,England, tthehe aannualnnual perper ccapitaapita cconsumptiononsumption ooff ssugarugar increasedincreased byby 20-fold20-fold bbetweenetween 16631663 andand 11775,775, andand itit iincreasedncreased a furtherfurther fi vve-folde-fold bbetweenetween 18351835 andand 19351935 (Sheridan,(Sheridan, 11974,974, pp.. 21,21, BBurnett,urnett, 1966,1966, p.p. 274).274). Sugar,Sugar, providingproviding a cheapcheap andand easyeasy sourcesource ofof caloriescalories fforor tthehe ggrowingrowing uurbanrban wworkingorking cclasslass inin Europe,Europe, wwasas fi rrstst cconsumedonsumed inin teatea andand otherother hhotot ddrinks.rinks. DDuringuring tthehe nnineteenthineteenth ccentury,entury, ssugarugar cconsumptiononsumption ffurtherurther iincreasedncreased aass pprocessedrocessed ffoods—suchoods—such asas jjams,ams, cakescakes andand biscuits,biscuits, cannedcanned vegetablesvegetables andand fruits,fruits, rrelishes,elishes, aandnd wwhitehite bread—becamebread—became mmoreore commoncommon ((Galloway,Galloway, 2005,2005, pp.pp. 6–9).6–9). IItt isis hardhard toto overstateoverstate tthehe importanceimportance ofof sugarsugar forfor thethe EuropeanEuropean masses.masses. HershHersh aandnd VVothoth (2009)(2009) estimateestimate thatthat tthehe iincreasencrease inin sugarsugar availabilityavailability betweenbetween 16001600 andand 11850850 iincreasedncreased EEnglishnglish wwelfareelfare bbyy aann aamazingmazing 8 ppercent.ercent. AAnthropologistnthropologist SSidneyidney MMintzintz (1985,(1985, p.p. 180)180) eveneven goesgoes ssoo ffarar aass ttoo pputut forthforth a hypothesishypothesis aboutabout thethe impor-impor- ttanceance ooff ssugarugar forfor creatingcreating anan industrialindustrial wworkingorking cclasslass iinn tthehe UUnitednited KKingdom.ingdom. HeHe wwritesrites thatthat ssugar,ugar, “by“by provisioning,provisioning, ssating—and,ating—and, iindeed,ndeed, drugging—farmdrugging—farm andand ffactoryactory workers,workers, sharplysharply rreducededuced thethe overalloverall costcost ofof creatingcreating andand reproducingreproducing tthehe mmetropolitanetropolitan pproletariat.”roletariat.” The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas 179

TToday,oday, asas shownshown iinn PPanelanel B ooff TTableable 33,, BBrazilrazil isis thethe world’sworld’s llargestargest ssupplierupplier ooff ssugarugar cane.cane. OtherOther NewNew WorldWorld countriescountries thatthat areare alsoalso toptop producersproducers includeinclude MMexico,exico, Cuba,Cuba, CColombia,olombia, aandnd tthehe UUnitednited States.States. GlobalGlobal productionproduction ofof ssugarugar ccaneane inin 20002000 waswas 1,2521,252 millionmillion tonnes.tonnes. OfOf this,this, 4545 percentpercent waswas producedproduced inin thethe AAmericas,mericas, withwith LatinLatin AmericaAmerica andand thethe CaribbeanCaribbean accountingaccounting forfor 9494 percentpercent ofof tthehe NewNew WorldWorld pproduction.roduction.

IIndirectndirect ConsequencesConsequences ofof thethe ColumbianColumbian ExchangeExchange

QQuinine:uinine: TheThe NewNew WWorld’sorld’s ““Gift”Gift” ttoo EEurope’surope’s OOldld WWorldorld CColoniesolonies QQuinine,uinine, anan importantimportant medicinalmedicinal “gift”“gift” fromfrom tthehe NewNew World,World, hhadad ssignifiignifi cantcant cconsequencesonsequences forfor thethe relationshiprelationship bbetweenetween EuropeEurope andand itsits tropicaltropical OldOld WWorldorld ccolo-olo- nnies,ies, particularlyparticularly itsits AfricanAfrican colonies.colonies. QuinineQuinine andand relatedrelated anti-malarialanti-malarial alkaloidsalkaloids ((quinidine,quinidine, ccinchonine,inchonine, ccinchonidine)inchonidine) aarere dderivederived ffromrom tthehe bbarkark ooff ccinchonainchona ttreesrees nativenative toto thethe Andes.Andes. TheThe treestrees growgrow inin scatteredscattered clumpsclumps inin thethe easterneastern moun-moun- ttainousainous forestsforests ooff CColombia,olombia, EEcuador,cuador, PPeru,eru, aandnd BBoliviaolivia bbetweenetween 1010 degreesdegrees northnorth aandnd 2200 ddegreesegrees southsouth atat eelevationslevations bbetweenetween 800800 ttoo 33,400,400 mmeterseters (Brockway,(Brockway, 1979,1979, pp.. 1108).08). QuinineQuinine waswas thethe fi rstrst effectiveeffective treatmenttreatment ofof malariamalaria causedcaused byby Plasmodium falciparum, tthehe pprotozoanrotozoan pparasitearasite thatthat isis transmittedtransmitted betweenbetween mammalsmammals byby thethe ffemaleemale Anopheles mmosquito.osquito. QuinineQuinine worksworks byby inhibitinginhibiting plasmodiumplasmodium reproduction.reproduction. TThehe uusese ooff qquinineuinine aass a pprophylacticrophylactic wwasas fi rstrst ddiscoverediscovered iinn 11841841 bbyy DDr.r. TThomashomas RR.. HH.. TThomson;homson; thethe fi ndingsndings werewere laterlater ppublishedublished inin The Lancet ((Thomson,Thomson, 1846).1846). TThehe BritishBritish government,government, amidstamidst thethe expansionexpansion ofof itsits empireempire intointo manymany malaria-malaria- rriddenidden rregions,egions, andand seeingseeing tthehe ppotentialotential bbenefienefi tsts ooff quinine,quinine, encouragedencouraged tthehe RRoyaloyal SSocietyociety toto researchresearch thethe propertiesproperties ofof quininequinine andand exploreexplore thethe possibilitiespossibilities ofof farmingfarming iitt outsideoutside ooff tthehe AAndes.ndes. IInn 11858,858, tthehe BBritishritish BotanicalBotanical GardensGardens (headed(headed byby KewKew GGardens,ardens, London)London) beganbegan thethe “cinchona“cinchona transfertransfer project”project” thatthat aaimedimed ttoo eensurensure a sstable,table, aadequate,dequate, andand cost-effectivecost-effective qquinineuinine ssupplyupply ttoo tthehe ccolonizersolonizers ooff tthehe BBritishritish EEmpirempire bbyy buying,buying, sstealing,tealing, bbribing,ribing, aandnd ssmugglingmuggling ccinchonainchona pplantslants aandnd sseedseeds ooutut ooff tthehe AAndesndes ttoo LLondonondon aandnd ccolonialolonial ggardensardens inin CeylonCeylon andand IndiaIndia (Brockway,(Brockway, 1979,1979, ppp.p. 115–17).115–17). TheThe BritishBritish werewere successfulsuccessful inin transferringtransferring plantsplants ttoo KKewew GardensGardens inin LLondon,ondon, Calcutta,Calcutta, andand thethe NilgiriNilgiri HillsHills ofof India.India. WithinWithin decades,decades, productionproduction waswas aalsolso eexpandedxpanded toto SingaporeSingapore aandnd DDutchutch JJava.ava. EEstimatesstimates ssuggestuggest tthathat bbyy 11880,880, eenoughnough wwasas producedproduced ttoo ssupplyupply tenten millionmillion peoplepeople withwith a dailydaily dosedose (Hobhouse,(Hobhouse, 2005,2005, p.p. 28).28). TThehe exactexact iimportancemportance ooff qquinine’suinine’s useuse asas anan anti-malarialanti-malarial alkaloidalkaloid isis stillstill bbeingeing establishedestablished byby historians,historians, bbutut tthehe eevidencevidence ssuggestsuggests thatthat itit waswas anan importantimportant ““tooltool ofof empire”empire” aandnd ssignifiignifi cantlycantly eenhancednhanced EEurope’surope’s aabilitybility ttoo ccolonizeolonize ttropicalropical rregionsegions ofof thethe globe.globe. AlthoughAlthough debateddebated (for(for example,example, bbyy EEtemad,temad, 22007),007), thethe tradi-tradi- ttionalional historiographyhistoriography recognizesrecognizes quininequinine aass hhavingaving facilitatedfacilitated EuropeanEuropean survivalsurvival iinn malaria-riddenmalaria-ridden rregionsegions duringduring thethe ageage ofof explorationexploration andand colonialcolonial expansionexpansion ((Headrick,Headrick, 1981).1981). TThehe sstandardtandard vviewiew iiss tthathat EEurope’surope’s ccolonizationolonization ofof AfricaAfrica wouldwould hhaveave beenbeen virtuallyvirtually impossibleimpossible withoutwithout quinine.quinine. CurtinCurtin (1961,(1961, p.p. 110)110) notesnotes thatthat ““betweenbetween 18191819 ttoo 11836836 tthehe aaverageverage aannualnnual ddeatheath rrateate pperer tthousandhousand mmeanean sstrengthtrength 180 Journal of Economic Perspectives

ooff EEuropeanuropean troopstroops onon thethe WestWest AAfricanfrican ccoastoast wwasas 448383 forfor enlistedenlisted men,men, aandnd 220909 fforor ooffiffi ccers.ers. BBetweenetween 18811881 andand 18971897 thethe annualannual averageaverage deathdeath raterate forfor offioffi ccialsials waswas 7676 iinn thethe GoldGold CCoastoast aandnd 5533 iinn LLagos.agos. . . . ssinceince ttherehere wwereere nnoo ffurtherurther mmedicaledical rreformseforms bbetweenetween thethe 1850’s1850’s andand thethe 1880’s1880’s comparablecomparable toto quininequinine prophylaxisprophylaxis oror thethe aboli-aboli- ttionion ooff ddangerousangerous ttreatments,reatments, iitt iiss ffairair ttoo aassumessume tthathat tthehe mmedicaledical rreformseforms ooff tthehe 11840’s840’s reducedreduced EuropeanEuropean mortalitymortality onon shoreshore byby atat leastleast halfhalf andand perhapsperhaps more.”more.” CCurtinurtin cconcludesoncludes tthathat ““thethe hhistoryistory ooff ttropicalropical AAfricafrica wwouldould ccertainlyertainly hhaveave bbeeneen vveryery ddifferentifferent ifif EuropeanEuropean mortalitymortality hadhad continuedcontinued atat thethe oldold rate.”rate.”

RRubberubber inin thethe HeartHeart ofof DarknessDarkness NNaturalatural rubberrubber isis mademade fromfrom latex,latex, whichwhich isis producedproduced whenwhen certaincertain plantsplants areare cutcut oorr punctured.punctured. AlthoughAlthough rubberrubber cancan bebe mademade fromfrom manymany differentdifferent plantsplants fromfrom aroundaround tthehe world,world, tthehe oonlynly ccommerciallyommercially viableviable rubberrubber plantsplants aarere tthehe Hevea rrubberubber ttreeree fromfrom CCentralentral andand SouthSouth America,America, andand a wildwild vvineine thatthat growsgrows iinn West-CentralWest-Central AAfrica.frica. HHistorically,istorically, AfricansAfricans mademade littlelittle useuse ofof rubber,rubber, exceptexcept asas anan adhesiveadhesive toto ffastenasten sspearheadspearheads andand aarrowheadsrrowheads toto theirtheir shaftsshafts ((Loadman,Loadman, 22005,005, pp.. 139).139). NNativeative AAmericans,mericans, oonn tthehe ootherther hhand,and, hhadad ddevelopedeveloped mmethodsethods toto preventprevent tthehe llatexatex fromfrom ddecaying,ecaying, wwhichhich wwasas aaccomplishedccomplished bbyy ssmokingmoking thethe latexlatex overover fi resres toto formform spoolsspools ofof uusablesable crudecrude rubber.rubber. TThehe rrubberubber wwasas uusedsed toto createcreate a widewide rangerange ofof itemsitems thatthat werewere ooff ccentralentral iimportancemportance inin theirtheir dailydaily llives:ives: hhoods,oods, boots,boots, tents,tents, balls,balls, torches,torches, jjars,ars, ccontainers,ontainers, syringes,syringes, ttoys,oys, bbreastplates,reastplates, rrubber-headedubber-headed ddrumrum sticks,sticks, aandnd aadhesivesdhesives ((Brockway,Brockway, 1979,1979, pp.pp. 144–45).144–45). EEuropeansuropeans diddid notnot recognizerecognize thethe benefibenefi ttss ofof rubberrubber untiluntil 1770,1770, whenwhen FrenchFrench nnaturalistaturalist CCharlesharles MMariearie ddee LLaa CCondamineondamine nnoticedoticed iitsts useuse byby AmazonAmazon nnatives.atives. TThehe fi rrstst commercialcommercial useuse ofof rubberrubber waswas inin thethe productionproduction ofof shoes,shoes, primarilyprimarily fromfrom NNewew England,England, inin thethe earlyearly nineteenthnineteenth century.century. However,However, thethe realreal boomboom forfor thethe rrubberubber industryindustry ddidid nnotot ooccurccur uuntilntil tthehe processprocess ofof “vulcanization”“vulcanization” waswas discovered.discovered. TThishis pprocessrocess includesincludes heatingheating thethe rubberrubber andand combiningcombining itit withwith otherother chemicalschemicals ttoo pproduceroduce a mmoreore sstabletable pproductroduct wwithith a wwiderider rrangeange ooff uusesses ((Hobhouse,Hobhouse, 22003,003, ppp.p. 1127–30).27–30). BBetweenetween 18511851 andand 18811881 thethe worldworld pproductionroduction ooff rrubberubber iincreasedncreased ffromrom 22,500,500 ttoo 220,0000,000 tonstons aannuallynnually (Hobhouse,(Hobhouse, 2003,2003, p.p. 129).129). ThisThis boom,boom, althoughalthough signifisignifi - ccant,ant, waswas mmodestodest ccomparedompared ttoo wwhathat waswas ttoo ccome.ome. TheThe followingfollowing threethree decadesdecades wwitnesseditnessed anan explosionexplosion iinn tthehe ddemandemand fforor rubber.rubber. HobhouseHobhouse ((p.p. 130)130) describesdescribes tthehe rrubberubber boom,boom, wwhichhich llastedasted fromfrom 11880880 ttoo 11910,910, wwritingriting tthathat ““rubberrubber becamebecame tthehe mostmost iimportant,mportant, mmostost mmarket-sensitive,arket-sensitive, mmostost ssought-afterought-after nnewew ccommodityommodity iinn tthehe world.”world.” TThehe rrisingising ddemandemand forfor rubberrubber wwasas fi rrstst ddrivenriven bbyy tthehe rriseise ooff eelectricity,lectricity, ssinceince rubberrubber wwasas uusedsed asas anan insulator.insulator. TheThe demanddemand waswas alsoalso fedfed byby thethe needneed forfor rrubberubber toto produceproduce rrubberubber ttiresires fforor bbicycles,icycles, andand laterlater forfor motorcyclesmotorcycles andand cars.cars. DDuringuring thisthis period,period, rubberrubber productionproduction increasedincreased rapidly,rapidly, doublingdoubling everyevery tthreehree toto fi veve yyearsears ((Hobhouse,Hobhouse, 22003,003, pp.pp. 130–37).130–37). ThisThis waswas accomplished,accomplished, inin ppart,art, bbyy aann iincreasencrease inin supplysupply fromfrom tropicaltropical regionsregions outsideoutside ooff tthehe AAmericas.mericas. IInn 11876,876, 770,0000,000 Hevea rubberrubber ttreeree sseedseeds wwereere ttakenaken ffromrom AAmazoniamazonia ttoo KKewew BBotan-otan- iicalcal GardensGardens inin CeylonCeylon andand SingaporeSingapore bbyy SSirir HHenryenry WWickhamickham ((Loadman,Loadman, 2005,2005, Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian 181

ppp.p. 81–107).81–107). ThisThis waswas thethe genesisgenesis ofof thethe rubberrubber industryindustry thatthat nownow existsexists iinn aallll ooff AAsia.sia. (The(The currentcurrent dominationdomination ofof thethe rubberrubber industryindustry byby AsianAsian countriescountries isis evidentevident iinn PanelPanel A ofof TableTable 3—the3—the toptop sixsix producersproducers ofof naturalnatural rubberrubber areare allall AsianAsian coun-coun- ttries.)ries.) A ssecondecond ssupplierupplier ooff rrubberubber dduringuring tthehe pperiod,eriod, oonene wwhichhich bbecameecame tthehe mmostost nnotoriousotorious exampleexample ooff EEuropeanuropean eexploitationxploitation iinn ssub-Saharanub-Saharan Africa,Africa, waswas thethe CongoCongo rregionegion ofof WestWest CentralCentral Africa.Africa. HereHere grewgrew thethe onlyonly otherother indigenousindigenous plantsplants tthathat wwereere ableable toto provideprovide ccommerciallyommercially vviableiable ssourcesources ofof nnaturalatural rubber.rubber. BetweenBetween 19001900 aandnd 11908,908, dduringuring tthehe hheighteight ooff tthehe bboom,oom, bbetweenetween 44,500,500 aandnd 66,000,000 ttonsons ooff rrubberubber wwereere exportedexported eeachach yearyear fromfrom tthehe CongoCongo FFreeree SState.tate. TThehe atrocitiesatrocities andand humanhuman costscosts tthathat wwereere ssuffereduffered inin thethe productionproduction ofof rubberrubber aarere wellwell knownknown andand wellwell documenteddocumented (for(for example,example, Hothschild,Hothschild, 1998).1998). InIn attemptsattempts ttoo forceforce nativesnatives toto gathergather rubber,rubber, villagesvillages wwereere bburnt,urnt, groupsgroups wwereere mmassacred,assacred, aandnd hhostagesostages werewere taken,taken, whowho werewere thenthen typicallytypically starvedstarved andand physicallyphysically disfidisfi gured.gured. TThehe populationpopulation ofof thethe CongoCongo iiss eestimatedstimated ttoo hhaveave bbeeneen aaboutbout 2525 millionmillion priorprior thethe rrubberubber boom,boom, iinn tthehe 11880s.880s. IInn 11911,911, aafterfter tthehe ppeakeak ooff tthehe bboom,oom, tthehe ppopulationopulation wwasas 88.5.5 million,million, aandnd iinn 11923923 aafterfter tthehe ccompletionompletion ooff tthehe bboom,oom, iitt wwasas 77.7.7 mmillion.illion. IIff oonene ccomparesompares thethe populationpopulation losseslosses relativerelative toto thethe productionproduction ofof rubber,rubber, anan astonishingastonishing cconclusiononclusion isis reached:reached: anan individualindividual waswas “lost”“lost” fromfrom thethe CongoCongo fforor eeveryvery ttenen kkilo-ilo- ggramsrams ooff rrubberubber eexportedxported ((Loadman,Loadman, 2005,2005, pp.pp. 140–41).140–41).

FForcedorced aandnd VVoluntaryoluntary MigrationsMigrations toto thethe AmericasAmericas BBetweenetween tthehe ssixteenthixteenth toto nineteenthnineteenth centuries,centuries, overover twelvetwelve millionmillion AfricansAfricans wwereere shippedshipped ttoo tthehe AmericasAmericas duringduring thethe transatlantictransatlantic slaveslave trade,trade, thethe largestlargest invol-invol- uuntaryntary migrationmigration inin humanhuman historyhistory (Lovejoy,(Lovejoy, 2000;2000; Manning,Manning, 1990;1990; Nunn,Nunn, 2008b).2008b). TThehe tradetrade waswas ffueledueled byby thethe highhigh demanddemand forfor laborlabor iinn tthehe AAmericas,mericas, wwhichhich waswas ddriven,riven, atat lleasteast iinn ppart,art, bbyy ttwowo aaspectsspects ofof thethe ColumbianColumbian Exchange:Exchange: TThehe fi rrstst waswas thethe sspreadpread ofof OldOld WWorldorld ddiseasesiseases ttoo NNativeative AAmericans,mericans, wwhichhich rresultedesulted iinn eextremelyxtremely llowow ppopulationopulation ddensitiesensities inin thethe NewNew World.World. TThehe ssecondecond wwasas tthehe ccultivationultivation ooff hhighlyighly pprizedrized OldOld WWorldorld ccrops,rops, ssuchuch aass ssugarugar aandnd ccoffee,offee, wwhichhich wwereere pparticularlyarticularly wwell-ell- ssuiteduited toto NewNew WorldWorld ssoilsoils aandnd climates.climates. TThehe forcedforced movementmovement ofof AfricanAfrican slavesslaves toto thethe AmericasAmericas reachedreached itsits heightheight inin tthehe eeighteenthighteenth century.century. InIn thethe nineteenthnineteenth century,century, thethe fl ooww ooff slavesslaves sslowed,lowed, fi rstrst aass a resultresult ofof thethe BritishBritish SlaveSlave TradeTrade ActAct ofof 18071807 thatthat bannedbanned importsimports ofof slavesslaves iintonto BritishBritish colonies,colonies, andand laterlater becausebecause ofof thethe BritishBritish SlaverySlavery AbolitionAbolition ActAct ofof 1837,1837, wwhichhich abolishedabolished anyany useuse ofof slaveslave llaborabor wwithinithin tthehe BBritishritish colonies.colonies. IInn responseresponse toto thethe abolitionabolition ofof thethe slaveslave ttrade,rade, manymany employersemployers rresortedesorted toto bbondedonded laborlabor contractscontracts asas a wayway toto obtainobtain a continuedcontinued ssupplyupply ofof cheapcheap labor.labor. MostMost ooff tthehe migrationmigration occurredoccurred betweenbetween Europe’sEurope’s OldOld andand NewNew WorldWorld ccolonies.olonies. CCaribbeanaribbean pplantationslantations pprovidedrovided thethe mainmain demanddemand forfor laborerslaborers fromfrom FrenchFrench IIndochinandochina andand tthehe BBritishritish coloniescolonies inin Asia.Asia. ForFor example,example, ooverver hhalfalf a mmillionillion iindenturedndentured laborerslaborers wwereere mmovedoved ffromrom tthehe IIndianndian ssubcontinentubcontinent ttoo tthehe BBritishritish CCaribbeanaribbean dduringuring tthehe nnineteenthineteenth centurycentury andand thethe beginningbeginning ofof thethe twentiethtwentieth centurycentury (Williams,(Williams, 1962,1962, pp.. 1100).00). China,China, aafterfter iitsts forcedforced openingopening toto thethe WestWest uponupon llosingosing tthehe OOpiumpium WWarsars ((inin 11842842 aandnd 1860),1860), providedprovided anotheranother importantimportant sourcesource ofof indenturedindentured labor.labor. EmployersEmployers 182 Journal of Economic Perspectives

ooff tthesehese ““coolies”coolies” iincludedncluded guanoguano pits,pits, ccottonotton aandnd ssugarugar industriesindustries inin Peru,Peru, sugarsugar ccaneane fi eeldslds iinn CCubauba ((followingfollowing tthehe aabolitionbolition ofof slaveryslavery inin 1886),1886), andand railwaysrailways iinn tthehe UUnitednited StatesStates andand BritishBritish ColumbiaColumbia (Campbell,(Campbell, 11923).923). AAlthoughlthough mostmost indenturedindentured laborerslaborers enteredentered servitudeservitude voluntarily,voluntarily, manymany pparallelsarallels cancan bebe drawndrawn betweenbetween thethe harshharsh conditionsconditions ofof slaveryslavery aandnd tthosehose facedfaced bbyy thethe indenturedindentured laborerslaborers (Northrop,(Northrop, 1995,1995, pp.pp. 4–10).4–10). ForFor example,example, manymany wouldwould ddieie oonn tthehe vvoyageoyage ttoo tthehe AAmericas,mericas, wwherehere ccrowdedrowded cconditionsonditions aandnd mmalnutritionalnutrition mmadeade thethe laborerslaborers vulnerablevulnerable toto diseasedisease (for(for example,example, CastroCastro dede Mendoza,Mendoza, 1989,1989, pp.. 45).45). AAndnd llikeike sslaveslaves wwhoho wwereere ddeniedenied tthehe rrightsights ooff oordinaryrdinary ccitizens,itizens, iindenturedndentured llaborersaborers wwereere oftenoften ddeniedenied thethe rightright toto naturalizenaturalize andand obtainobtain citizenshipcitizenship afterafter theirtheir ccontractsontracts werewere oover.ver. TThehe nnineteenthineteenth aandnd ttwentiethwentieth ccenturiesenturies aalsolso wwitnesseditnessed a ddramaticramatic iincreasencrease iinn vvoluntaryoluntary migrationsmigrations fromfrom tthehe OOldld WWorld.orld. BBetweenetween 11851851 aandnd 11924924 aalone,lone, 4455 mmillionillion ppeopleeople mmigratedigrated fromfrom thethe OldOld WorldWorld ttoo tthehe AAmericas,mericas, withwith thethe majority,majority, 3434 million,million, cchoosinghoosing ttoo mmigrateigrate ttoo tthehe UUnitednited SStates.tates. ThoseThose thatthat mmigratedigrated ttoo LatinLatin AAmericamerica pprimarilyrimarily wentwent toto ArgentinaArgentina aandnd BBrazil.razil. BetweenBetween 18501850 andand 1940,1940, 7 millionmillion wentwent toto AArgentinargentina aandnd 44.5.5 mmillionillion ttoo BBrazilrazil (Crosby,(Crosby, 22003,003, pp.pp. 214–15).214–15). A rrecentecent datadata cconstructiononstruction eeffortffort bbyy PPuttermanutterman aandnd WWeileil ((2009)2009) pprovidesrovides ccomprehensiveomprehensive eestimatesstimates ooff tthehe mmagnitudesagnitudes ooff ppost-1492ost-1492 populationpopulation fl owsows fromfrom tthehe OOldld WWorldorld ttoo tthehe NNewew WWorld.orld. TThehe aauthorsuthors cconstructonstruct a mmatrixatrix sshowinghowing tthehe ssharehare ooff a ccountry’sountry’s currentcurrent populationpopulation (in(in 2000)2000) whosewhose ancestorsancestors werewere originallyoriginally fromfrom ootherther ccountriesountries ooff tthehe wworld.orld. UUsingsing tthishis mmatrix,atrix, wwee aarere aableble ttoo ccalculate,alculate, fforor tthehe 2277 NNewew WorldWorld ccountriesountries iinn ttheirheir ssample,ample, tthehe ssharehare ooff ttheirheir ccurrenturrent ppopulationsopulations oorigi-rigi- nnallyally fromfrom tthehe OldOld WWorld.orld. TThesehese fi gguresures areare reportedreported iinn thethe fi rstrst columncolumn ofof TableTable 44..3 TThehe shareshare rrangesanges ffromrom 2266 ppercentercent fforor GGuatemala,uatemala, ttoo 110000 ppercentercent fforor tthehe NNewew WWorldorld iislandsland eeconomicsconomics ooff HHaiti,aiti, Jamaica,Jamaica, aandnd TTrinidadrinidad aandnd TTobago.obago. IInn tthehe secondsecond aandnd thirdthird columnscolumns ofof thethe table,table, wewe furtherfurther disaggregatedisaggregate thethe OldOld WorldWorld ccategory,ategory, rreportingeporting eexplicitlyxplicitly tthehe ppopulationopulation sshareshares ffromrom AAfricafrica aandnd ffromrom EEurope.urope. ((TheThe rremainingemaining sshare,hare, nnotot rreported,eported, iiss fforor AAsiasia aandnd OOceania.)ceania.) ForFor manymany countries,countries, mostmost ooff theirtheir currentcurrent populationpopulation isis fromfrom eithereither AfricaAfrica (for(for example,example, 9898 percentpercent forfor Haiti)Haiti) oorr EEuropeurope ((forfor eexample,xample, 9911 ppercentercent fforor UUruguayruguay oorr 8844 ppercentercent fforor AArgentina).rgentina).

CConcludingoncluding ThoughtsThoughts

TThehe aimaim ofof thisthis paperpaper hashas beenbeen toto provideprovide a historicalhistorical overviewoverview ofof thethe CColumbianolumbian EExchange,xchange, wwithith a pparticulararticular eemphasismphasis oonn aaspectsspects ooff tthehe exchangeexchange tthathat havehave generallygenerally beenbeen neglectedneglected byby economists.economists. TheThe NewNew WorldWorld providedprovided soilssoils tthathat wwereere veryvery suitablesuitable forfor thethe cultivationcultivation ofof a varietyvariety ofof OldOld WorldWorld pproducts,roducts, llikeike sugarsugar andand coffee.coffee. TheThe increasedincreased supplysupply loweredlowered thethe pricesprices ofof thesethese productsproducts

3 For all of the fi ne details, including data sources and calculation procedures, see Putterman and Weil (2009), as well as their online appendices, which are available at 〈http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac /Louis_Putterman/world%20migration%20matrix.htm〉. The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas 183

Table 4 Origins of New World Populations

Share of population in 2000 that is of:

Country Old World origin African origin European origin

Haiti 1.00 0.98 0.02 Jamaica 1.00 0.89 0.08 Trinidad and Tobago 1.00 0.46 0.07 Cuba 0.98 0.34 0.63 Canada 0.97 0.02 0.76 Dominican Republic 0.96 0.44 0.52 Uruguay 0.96 0.04 0.91 Guyana 0.95 0.39 0.00 Argentina 0.95 0.02 0.84 Brazil 0.91 0.16 0.19 United States 0.90 0.10 0.68 Puerto Rico 0.82 0.16 0.66 Costa Rica 0.70 0.09 0.60 Venezuela 0.69 0.14 0.55 Panama 0.64 0.13 0.45 Colombia 0.63 0.17 0.46 Chile 0.63 0.01 0.59 Belize 0.61 0.17 0.40 Nicaragua 0.60 0.09 0.51 Paraguay 0.54 0.01 0.52 El Salvador 0.50 0.00 0.50 Honduras 0.48 0.02 0.46 Ecuador 0.39 0.07 0.32 Mexico 0.38 0.07 0.30 Peru 0.36 0.06 0.28 Bolivia 0.28 0.01 0.27 Guatemala 0.26 0.04 0.22

Source: Data are from Louis Putterman and David Weil’s World Migration Matrix, 1500–2000 Version 1.1. 〈http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac/Louis_Putterman/world %20migration%20matrix.htm〉. Note: The table shows the proportion of the population of New World Countries in 2000 that were descendents of individuals living in the Old World, Africa, and Europe in 1500. See Putterman and Weil (2009) for full details. ssignifiignifi cantly,cantly, mmakingaking tthemhem aaffordableffordable toto thethe generalgeneral populationpopulation forfor thethe fi rstrst ttimeime iinn history.history. TheThe productionproduction ofof thesethese productsproducts alsoalso resultedresulted inin largelarge inflinfl oowsws ooff pprofirofi tsts backback toto Europe,Europe, whichwhich somesome havehave arguedargued fueledfueled thethe IndustrialIndustrial Revolu-Revolu- ttionion andand thethe rriseise ooff EEuropeurope ((Inikori,Inikori, 22002;002; AAcemoglu,cemoglu, JJohnson,ohnson, aandnd RRobinson,obinson, 22005).005). TheThe OldOld WWorldorld aalsolso ggainedained aaccessccess ttoo nnewew ccropsrops tthathat wwereere wwidelyidely aadopted.dopted. PPotatoesotatoes werewere embracedembraced byby thethe IrishIrish andand thethe easterneastern EuropeanEuropean societies,societies, chilichili ppepperseppers byby thethe culturescultures ofof SouthSouth andand SoutheastSoutheast Asia,Asia, tomatoestomatoes byby ItalyItaly andand otherother MMediterraneanediterranean societies,societies, andand tobaccotobacco byby allall nationsnations ofof thethe world.world. TThehe exchangeexchange alsoalso hhadad somesome extremelyextremely negativenegative iimpacts.mpacts. NNativeative AAmericanmerican ppopulationsopulations werewere decimateddecimated byby OldOld WorldWorld ddiseases.iseases. TThishis depopulationdepopulation alongalong 184 Journal of Economic Perspectives

wwithith thethe productionproduction ofof valuablevaluable OldOld WWorldorld ccropsrops llikeike ssugarugar ccaneane aandnd ccoffeeoffee tthenhen fueledfueled thethe ddemandemand fforor laborlabor thatthat gavegave riserise toto thethe transatlantictransatlantic slaveslave trade.trade. TThehe resultresult waswas thethe forcedforced movementmovement ofof ooverver twelvetwelve millionmillion slavesslaves ffromrom AAfricafrica toto tthehe AmericasAmericas andand devastatingdevastating ppolitical,olitical, ssocial,ocial, andand economiceconomic cconsequencesonsequences forfor tthehe AfricanAfrican continent.continent. FollowingFollowing thethe slaveslave ttrade,rade, tthehe AAfricanfrican continentcontinent waswas ddividedivided andand broughtbrought uundernder EEuropeanuropean colonialcolonial rule,rule, anan eventevent thatthat somesome havehave aarguedrgued wouldwould havehave beenbeen impossibleimpossible withoutwithout thethe discoverydiscovery ofof qquinineuinine inin tthehe NNewew WWorld.orld. MMoreover,oreover, thethe knowledgeknowledge ofof howhow toto harvestharvest andand processprocess rubber,rubber, learnedlearned ffromrom nnativesatives ooff tthehe AAndes,ndes, hhadad pparticularlyarticularly regrettableregrettable consequencesconsequences forfor thosethose inin AAfrica’sfrica’s CongoCongo rregion.egion. OOurur hhopeope isis thatthat thisthis broadbroad overviewoverview willwill spurspur furtherfurther researchresearch examiningexamining tthehe nneglectedeglected aspectsaspects ofof thethe exchange.exchange. OOnene iinterestingnteresting questionquestion thatthat isis particularlyparticularly rele-rele- vvantant forfor thethe exchangeexchange isis thethe effecteffect thatthat diseasesdiseases hadhad onon domesticdomestic institutions,institutions, ssocialocial sstructures,tructures, andand developmentdevelopment generally.generally. TheThe recentrecent bookbook byby MannMann (2005)(2005) arguesargues thatthat tthehe NNewew WorldWorld wwasas mmuchuch mmoreore ppolitically,olitically, eeconomically,conomically, aandnd ttechnologicallyechnologically ddevel-evel- oopedped thanthan scholarsscholars havehave presumed,presumed, andand oneone reasonreason forfor thisthis mischaracterizationmischaracterization isis thethe llargearge negativenegative iimpactsmpacts OldOld WWorldorld ddiseasesiseases hhadad oonn NNewew WWorldorld ssocieties.ocieties. TThehe studystudy byby HershHersh andand VothVoth (2009)(2009) providesprovides estimatesestimates ofof EnglishEnglish welfarewelfare ggainsains ffromrom tthehe iincreasedncreased ssupplyupply ooff ssugarugar andand coffeecoffee thatthat arosearose afterafter thethe discoverydiscovery ooff NewNew WorldWorld vvirginirgin ssoils.oils. TTheirheir sstudytudy mmakesakes oonene wwonderonder aaboutbout tthehe wwelfareelfare ggainsains tthathat arosearose fromfrom thethe introductionintroduction ofof variousvarious NewNew WorldWorld crops.crops. ForFor example,example, whatwhat wwereere tthehe wwelfareelfare ggainsains ffromrom ttomatoesomatoes iinn IItaly,taly, mmaizeaize iinn LLesotho,esotho, cchilihili ppepperseppers iinn AAsia,sia, oror cassavacassava iinn WWest-Centralest-Central AAfrica?frica? AAnothernother iinterestingnteresting aavenuevenue ooff rresearchesearch iiss ttoo eexploitxploit tthehe iintroductionntroduction ooff nnewew ffoodood ccropsrops ttoo eexaminexamine tthehe eeffectsffects ooff aagri-gri- cculturalultural pproductivityroductivity andand healthhealth oonn pathspaths ofof development.development. OurOur fi nndingsdings inin NunnNunn aandnd QQianian ((2009)2009) ssuggestuggest thatthat thethe improvementimprovement inin agriculturalagricultural productivityproductivity fromfrom tthehe introductionintroduction ooff ppotatoesotatoes hhadad signifisignifi ccantant effectseffects oonn hhistoricistoric populationpopulation growthgrowth aandnd urbanization.urbanization. ThisThis raisesraises thethe naturalnatural questionquestion ofof whetherwhether thethe adoptionadoption ofof ppotatoesotatoes broughtbrought anyany additionaladditional effects.effects. ForFor example,example, howhow diddid thethe introductionintroduction ofof tthehe newnew foodfood cropcrop affectaffect healthhealth outcomes?outcomes? GivenGiven thethe evidenceevidence thatthat thethe introduc-introduc- ttionion ofof ppotatoesotatoes eeasedased populationpopulation pressurespressures andand increasedincreased incomes,incomes, itit isis naturalnatural ttoo askask whetherwhether thethe adoptionadoption ofof ppotatoesotatoes hadhad anyany effecteffect onon conflconfl ictict oorr warfare.warfare. IIff so,so, howhow diddid thisthis inin turnturn affectaffect statestate formationformation andand subsequentsubsequent institutionalinstitutional ddevelopment?evelopment? TThesehese examplesexamples pproviderovide a ssmallmall ssampleample ooff tthehe mmanyany qquestionsuestions tthathat oneone couldcould iinvestigatenvestigate ttoo ffurtherurther oourur uunderstandingnderstanding ooff tthehe eeffectsffects ofof thethe ColumbianColumbian Exchange.Exchange. TThesehese questionsquestions lielie inin virginvirgin soils,soils, waitingwaiting toto bebe explored.explored.

■ We thank David Autor, Jonathan Hersh, Chad Jones, Timothy Taylor, and Joachim Voth for valuable comments. We also thank Eva Ng for excellent research assistance. Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian 185

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