Who coined the term 'Colombian Exchange'?

Who coined the term 'Colombian Exchange'?

• A. Alfred Crosby
• B. Christopher Columbus
• C. Amerigo Vespucci
• D. Samuel Morse

Answer: (A)

The term describing the massive transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and people between the Old World and the New World after 1492 was coined by Alfred W. Crosby. He introduced it in his 1972 work The Columbian Exchange to highlight how these exchanges reshaped ecosystems and societies around the globe. The idea emphasizes that crops like potatoes and maize moved to Europe, livestock such as horses and cattle moved to the Americas, and devastating diseases like smallpox spread across continents, altering populations dramatically. The other figures listed—Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci—were explorers who initiated contact, but they did not coin the term, and Samuel Morse has no connection to this concept.

The term describing the massive transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and people between the Old World and the New World after 1492 was coined by Alfred W. Crosby. He introduced it in his 1972 work The Columbian Exchange to highlight how these exchanges reshaped ecosystems and societies around the globe. The idea emphasizes that crops like potatoes and maize moved to Europe, livestock such as horses and cattle moved to the Americas, and devastating diseases like smallpox spread across continents, altering populations dramatically. The other figures listed—Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci—were explorers who initiated contact, but they did not coin the term, and Samuel Morse has no connection to this concept.