Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange marks the start of truly global supply, when crops and livestock began moving between hemispheres and reshaped what the world grew, ate, and traded. Corn, potatoes, and cassava spread from the Americas, while wheat, rice, horses, cattle, and pigs went the other way, along with diseases such as smallpox that devastated Native populations. The new flows created long ocean supply lines that needed storage, shipping, and trade rules. Today's import controls, from country of origin rules to agricultural inspections of plants and food, exist partly because moving living goods between regions carries real risk.

• Country of OriginCountry where goods were made
• Customs ExamCBP inspection of an import shipment
• Cold Chain ShippingShipping goods that must stay cold

• Atlantic Triangular Trade16th to 19th century · Goods, enslaved people and sugar circle the Atlantic
• Magellan-Elcano Circumnavigation1519–1522 · A Spanish expedition makes the first voyage around Earth
• Manila Galleon Trade1565–1815 · Galleons carry silver to Manila and Asian goods back

1. Columbian exchange britannica.com
2. Alfred W. Crosby britannica.com
3. The Columbian Exchange en.wikipedia.org