Between the late 15th century and the early 19th century, the native population in the Americas vanished. These are the dates of the Columbian Exchange, the large scale overseas exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technology between the Old World and the New World. Perhaps the most impactful result of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas was the spread of Old World diseases into the New World, which caused a majority of the Native American deaths. Disease cannot solely be blamed for the eradication of the native population, because the Europeans played a significant hand in murdering innumerable natives. Although disease decimated the Native American’s population, Europeans were at fault for killing off the remaining population.
…show more content…
There were two initial factors which caused the rapid and deadly spread of Old World diseases in the New World. The first was the long-term isolation between the Old World and New World, which “meant the absence of acquired immunities to Old World diseases, such as smallpox, measles, typhus, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever” (Strayer, 407). The second aspect was the lack of domesticated animals in the New World, which contributed to Native American immune systems weakened to Old World diseases. Once the Native Americans came into contact with European and African diseases, the Native Americans died at a rate as high as 90 percent. For example, in Central Mexico, a population of near 20 million dwindled to 1 million by 1650 (Strayer, 407). In North America, a Dutch observer stated that the Indians, prior to the arrival of the Christians, “were ten times as numerous as they are now, and that their population had been melted down by this disease, whereof nine-tenths of them have died”. Even the Governor of Plymouth colony stated that the lord was “sweeping away the great multitudes of the natives” (Strayer, 407), demonstrating that from all different perspectives there was clearly an enormous drop in the native population attributed to …show more content…
When Christopher Columbus, first set foot on the Americas and first made contact with the Arawaks, his immediate written thought was that since the natives were so very willing to trade all of their goods, and were naive about arms, “they would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” (Zinn, p.1). The idea of subjugating the natives rapidly developed into crimes against humanity. The Spaniards, according to an early proponent for Native American rights, had “no more consideration for [the natives] than beasts”. The Spaniards enslaved the natives into heavy labor, where the natives “soon [died] of no matter what malady” (Bartolomé de las Casas, p.27). In Cicao and Haiti, “where [Columbus] and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months”. When the natives brought the gold to Columbus, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks, and when Indians were found without a copper token, their hands were cut off, leaving them to bleed to death (Zinn, 1). This task was impossible, but when the natives fled, they were hunted down with dogs and killed. The dilemma Columbus put the natives in led to their mass suicide with cassava poison. The natives were forced to commit
There were two initial factors which caused the rapid and deadly spread of Old World diseases in the New World. The first was the long-term isolation between the Old World and New World, which “meant the absence of acquired immunities to Old World diseases, such as smallpox, measles, typhus, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever” (Strayer, 407). The second aspect was the lack of domesticated animals in the New World, which contributed to Native American immune systems weakened to Old World diseases. Once the Native Americans came into contact with European and African diseases, the Native Americans died at a rate as high as 90 percent. For example, in Central Mexico, a population of near 20 million dwindled to 1 million by 1650 (Strayer, 407). In North America, a Dutch observer stated that the Indians, prior to the arrival of the Christians, “were ten times as numerous as they are now, and that their population had been melted down by this disease, whereof nine-tenths of them have died”. Even the Governor of Plymouth colony stated that the lord was “sweeping away the great multitudes of the natives” (Strayer, 407), demonstrating that from all different perspectives there was clearly an enormous drop in the native population attributed to …show more content…
When Christopher Columbus, first set foot on the Americas and first made contact with the Arawaks, his immediate written thought was that since the natives were so very willing to trade all of their goods, and were naive about arms, “they would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” (Zinn, p.1). The idea of subjugating the natives rapidly developed into crimes against humanity. The Spaniards, according to an early proponent for Native American rights, had “no more consideration for [the natives] than beasts”. The Spaniards enslaved the natives into heavy labor, where the natives “soon [died] of no matter what malady” (Bartolomé de las Casas, p.27). In Cicao and Haiti, “where [Columbus] and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months”. When the natives brought the gold to Columbus, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks, and when Indians were found without a copper token, their hands were cut off, leaving them to bleed to death (Zinn, 1). This task was impossible, but when the natives fled, they were hunted down with dogs and killed. The dilemma Columbus put the natives in led to their mass suicide with cassava poison. The natives were forced to commit