Chapter 1. Origins of world crops and livestock
- Peopling of the world
- Origins of agriculture
- Transcontinental dispersal of Near East crops
- Spread of Agriculture across the Mediterranean Basin
- Indian Ocean dispersals
- Dispersal of New World crops
- Evolution of farming methods
- World agriculture systems in 1492
Chapter 2. Evolution of European agriculture
- Background
- Food and diet
- Mixed farming
- Open field system and the manor
- Muslim green revolution in Spain (Al Andalus)
- Spread of the Mediterranean agrosystem
Chapter 3. Agriculture in the Americas in the 16th century
- Background
- Rural economies in the Americas in 1492
- Food and agriculture of Aztecs
- Food and agriculture of Incas
- Food and agriculture of Maya
- Food and agriculture of Taíno
- Food and agriculture of Tupi-Guardi
- Food and agriculture of North America
Chapter 4. The Spanish conquest of the Americas
- Background - Who were the conquerors?
- The initial Spanish conquest of the Americas
- Spread of the colonies
- Organization of Spanish America
- The Spanish colonial economy
- The Great Dying
- Effects of Columbian exchange on world population
Chapter 5. Crop and livestock introductions into Spanish America
- Background
- Early crop and livestock introductions to New Spain
- Early crop and livestock introductions to Peru
- Plantation crops introduced to Spanish America
Chapter 6. Homogenization of agriculture in Spanish America
- Background
- Colonial farms in the Caribbean
- Colonial farms in Mexico and Peru
- Old World livestock in the New World
- Amerindian farms after the conquest
Chapter 7. Portuguese colonization of Brazil
- The Portuguese colonization strategy
- Evolution of the Brazilian economy
- Slavery in the Americas
- Crop and Livestock introductions to Brazil
- Spread of sugar plantations to Caribbean
- Out from Africa
