Part 1
The following needs atleat a 100-word reply
The Spanish was afraid that the Portuguese would clam the riches of the East to themselves , backed Columbus Voyage that discovered the Americas for Spain. This in turn spurred Portuguese to find a route to Asia before Spain did. There were three power struggles in the late 1600s, Spain and England for the Caribbean, Spain and France in Tejas ( Texas), and France and England for Northeast America.The Columbian Exchange ( also called the Great Exchange), to describe the enormous exchange of plants, animals, foods, human populations ( including slaves), communicable diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres that occurred after 1492.
Part 2
The following needs atleat a 100-word reply if possible
I liked your analysis on the Columbian Exchange. You are correct--the Old World introduced food like grapes and olives. They also brought over livestock like goats and sheep. However, the most productive animal they introduced was the horse. My family is Italian and they would probably argue that the tomato was the most important crop brought from the New to the Old World. Can you imagine Italian food without tomatoes?