What named transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and ideas followed Columbus's voyages?

The Columbian exchange was the transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World after Columbus’s voyages. The term describes a vast biological and cultural exchange that reshaped both sides of the Atlantic.

American crops such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cacao, and chili peppers moved to Europe, Africa, and Asia. In the opposite direction came wheat, rice, sugarcane, coffee, horses, cattle, pigs, and sheep. These transfers transformed diets, agriculture, economies, and population patterns around the world.

The exchange also had devastating consequences. Diseases including smallpox, measles, and influenza spread among Indigenous peoples who had little previous exposure, causing catastrophic mortality. The term is broader than trade alone: it includes ecological change, forced migration, and cultural exchange. “Triangular trade” refers specifically to a later Atlantic trading system, not this full biological process.