The Columbian Exchange

Since today is Columbus Day, I wanted to recommend two books by Charles Mann, 1491 and 1493.  In the first book Mann gives us a more up-to-date view of what the Americas looked like prior to Columbus and dispels some commonly held misconceptions about Native American origins, societies, history, and especially of interest to me, how they managed the environment.  The history I was taught in school gave us the impression that when the English arrived in North America they found a sparsely populated, pristine landscape. The new picture shows a more heavily populated environment, extensively managed through constant burning to promote agriculture and to favor some plant and animal species over others.  On both North and South America, wherever there were people, there was extensive manipulation of the landscape.  All of this changed when Columbus brought the Old World to the New.  It is estimated that between 60-90% of Native Americans died from introduced European diseases within the first century of contact.  So with the collapse of Native American populations and society, the landscape changed, and by the time my people got here, it was indeed less populated and more pristine.

I am only part the way through 1493, but so far, it is as engrossing as the first book.  In it Mann tells of the changes that occurred after and as a result of Columbus' voyage.  It was the beginning of a global exchange, some for the good - some for the bad, that continues to this day.  Can you imagine Italian cuisine without the tomato, Florida without its oranges, the Apache without their horses or Marlena Dietrich without her cigarettes?  Many of the food crops and domesticated animals that crossed the oceans now sustain large populations far from the species' origins.  Did you know there were no earthworms in North America prior to the Columbian Exchange, and that leaf litter lay in an ultra thick blanket on the forest floor, unless it was burned by the Native Americans or slowly consumed by fungus?  Imagine how that changed the look of and make up of our forests.  Of course the Exchange was not limited to plants and animals.  People were exchanged, willingly or otherwise; ideas and technology crossed back and forth; and diseases did as well.  I am anxious to see what other points Mann brings up as I continue reading.

These books have me thinking of my own garden, particularly about where the plants I grow come from.  It is nearly startling how many evolved in Asia, some of them so ubiquitous I can't imagine a local garden without them, like the Azalea, Camellia, Daylily, Hydrangea, Loropetalum, Gardenia, Nandina or Crape Myrtle.  North and South America are also well represented in my garden with the likes of Coneflower, Rudbeckia, Phlox, Smokebush, Dahlia, Morning Glory, Angelonia, Cuphea, Coleus, Sweet Potato Vine, Lantana and Zinnias.  Surprisingly, it was difficult to think of plants in my garden with European origins, and I could only come up with Boxwood, Hellebores, Narcissus, Bearded Iris, and let's not forget English Ivy, but I would like to give that back. 

Looking at my garden you see that exchanges can be good, or not, and aren't always balanced.  You can also get another opinion on the topic by asking a Native American how he or she feels about Columbus Day.