DEMOGRAPHIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES

Demographic changes between 1450 and 1750 were significant. Some major population shifts included:

• A rise in the population of Europe - Europe's population had been decimated by the 14th century plague epidemic, so during the 15th and 16th centuries population levels were growing to match previous levels. Even though population pressure is not a good explanation for the movement of Europeans across to the New World, a long-term population expansion can be seen. For example, in 1000 C.E., Europe had an estimated 36 million people. In 1700 the population had grown to 120 million, the largest percentage increase of any of the continents.
• A decrease in the population of the Americas - This trend may run counter to common knowledge, but it does reflect the decimation of Amerindian populations by their encounters with Europeans. For example, in the late 15th century North America had almost 4 million people, Mexico had more than 21 million, the Caribbean and Central America each had almost 6 million, and South America (Andes and Lowlands) had almost 30 million. By 1700 the entire western hemisphere had only 13 million, a decrease from 67 million or so in 1500. Even though Europeans had settled in both North and South America by 1700, their numbers were too few to make an overall demographic difference.
• No overall population decrease occurred in Africa - Again, counter to common belief, the slave trade did not decimate the populations of Africa. By 1700 Africa had more than 60 million people, almost doubling their population in 1000. To be sure, some areas of Africa did reflect huge population losses, and logically those were places where the slave trade was most vigorous. Because the Atlantic trade was so much larger than the Saharan trade, areas most affected were along Africa's west coast, such as the Gold Coast and Slave Coast to the north, the Bight of Biafra in the middle, and Angola in the south.

Between 1000 and 1700 C.E., the populations of Asia - including the Middle East, Indian, and East Asia - more than doubled to a total of about 415 million. Clearly, overall world population grew, and the majority of people by the end of the time period still lived in the Middle East and Asia.*

The Columbian Exchange almost certainly caused some environmental changes that help to explain the population trends listed above. For example, maize and cassava (a nutritious plant used in modern day in tapioca) were transported by Portuguese ships from Brazil to Angola in southwest Africa. Angolans cultivated the crops, which adapted very well to their land. Some historians believe that this exchange provided the base for the population increase that followed, despite the fact that many Angolans were captured and deported to the New World as slaves. Likewise, the Andean potato eventually became the staple for poor people in Europe, sustaining population growth despite the number of people that began to migrate to the New World.

Major environmental changes occurred in the New World in two major ways:

• Soil exhaustion - Plantations in the Americas tended to rely on single crops, a process that depletes the soil of nutrients, and since land was plentiful, often the planters just moved on to clear more land. For example, in the Caribbean, instead of rotating sugar with other crops, planters found it more profitable to clearly new lands when yields began to decline. Eventually, they moved on to other islands.
• Deforestation - The Spanish first cut down forests in the Caribbean to make pastures for the cattle they brought, and deforestation accelerated when more areas were cleared for plantations. In North America, shipbuilding in the northern English colonies took its toll of forests. In all of the Americas, the forests near the coasts were the first to go, so that deforestation was significant in many areas by 1750.

Deforestation was also taking place in Europe during this period. Timber was needed for ships, buildings, wagons, barrels, and many other items. Wood shortages were made worse by the Little Ice Age that began in Europe during the 1590s. People burned wood to keep warm, and by the mid-17th century, forests were growing scarce and wood prices skyrocketed. This wood shortage encouraged the use of coal for fuel, and since England had coal in great supply, deforestation almost certainly helped their economy grow. However, deforestation had many negative effects, especially on the poor.

The Little Ice Age spread as far as China, where it caused hardship that led people to rebellion and discontent, a condition that contributed to the mid-17th century demise of Ming China.