Congratulations! You've almost completed the lesson. You have learned about the European contact and conquest of the Americas and the effects of the Columbian Exchange on the world. Remember, the Columbian Exchange is considered by many the second biggest game-changer in recorded history after the Industrial Revolution, so the most important thing is to recognize that you are just scratching the surface. Review your notes and the information in the lesson. Did you print or save your notes?

For your assessment, you will consider the short-term and long-term effects of the Columbian Exchange on the people of the Americas, European colonists, and people staying in Europe, Africa, and Asia. To Europeans doing the sailing, Europe, Africa, and Asia represented the “Old World” that they left and the Americas were the “New World” they discovered.

You will need to focus on the economic and political effects. Research and identify one short-term effect and one long-term effect on the "Old World" and the "New World" that you find particularly interesting or significant. For the purposes of this assignment, a short-term effect is one that would have been felt by those affected within 25 years of Columbus beginning the exchange, and your long-term effect should not have been recognizable until after that. For example, a short-term economic effect of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople was the port tax European traders had to pay to get into the Black Sea. The long-term effect was the Age of Exploration and the rise of European oversea empires because West Europeans looked for alternative routes to Asia to avoid paying the Ottomans that tax. The difference between a short-term and long-term effect can be tricky, so just make sure and explain your reasoning.

You will need evidence from the lesson and possibly outside research to explain each of your answers. After completing the chart, answer the following reflection question in 4–5 complete sentences: What was one positive item and one negative item of the Columbian Exchange? Explain the impact of each one.