<P> Several plants native to the Americas have spread around the world , including Potato , maize , tomato , and tobacco . Before 1500 , potatoes were not grown outside of South America . By the 1840s , Ireland was so dependent on the potato that the proximate cause of the Great Famine was a potato disease . Potatoes eventually became an important staple of the diet in much of Europe , contributing to about 25 % of the population growth in Afro - Eurasia between 1700 and 1900 . Many European rulers , including Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia , encouraged the cultivation of the potato . </P>
<P> Several plants native to the Americas have spread around the world , including Potato , maize , tomato , and tobacco . Before 1500 , potatoes were not grown outside of South America . By the 1840s , Ireland was so dependent on the potato that the proximate cause of the Great Famine was a potato disease . Potatoes eventually became an important staple of the diet in much of Europe , contributing to about 25 % of the population growth in Afro - Eurasia between 1700 and 1900 . Many European rulers , including Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia , encouraged the cultivation of the potato . </P>
what was brought to europe from the americas
what was brought to europe from the americas
Potato maize tomato tobacco
Potato maize tomato tobacco