What term describes the transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World after 1492?

• A. Silk Road
• B. Columbian Exchange
• C. Atlantic Trade
• D. Mercantilism

Answer: (B)

The transfer after 1492 is described by the Columbian Exchange. This term specifically names the broad network of contacts between the Americas and the Old World that emerged after Columbus’s voyages, focusing on the exchange of crops, animals, diseases, and ideas. It explains how foods like maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and cacao moved to Europe, Africa, and Asia, while crops and animals such as wheat, rice, horses, and cattle flowed into the Americas. It also accounts for the devastating spread of diseases like smallpox and measles to Indigenous populations, as well as the sharing of farming techniques and cultural practices.

Other terms don’t fit as well. The Silk Road refers to ancient overland routes that linked Asia and Europe long before 1492, not the post-contact global exchange. Atlantic Trade is a broad, generic phrase and doesn’t specify the set of transfers described here. Mercantilism describes an economic policy about accumulating wealth and trade balances, not the actual cross-continental exchanges of goods, diseases, and ideas.