The greatest adversary to the natives in the Americas was not the swords or guns of the invaders. It was the devastation brought by deadly diseases infecting an unsuspecting population that had no immunity to such diseases.
The Europeans were said to be thoroughly diseased by the time Columbus set sail on his first voyage (Cowley, 1991). Through the domestication of such animals as pigs, horses, sheep, and cattle, the Europeans exposed themselves to a vast array of pathogens which continued to be spread through wars, explorations, and city-building. Thus any European who crossed the Atlantic was immune to such diseases as measles and smallpox because of battling them as a child.
The original inhabitants traveled to the New World in groups of a couple hundred each. Because microbes such as the ones that cause measles and smallpox need populations of several million to survive, the original populations were unaffected by the deadly diseases. However, by the time Columbus arrived, the major Indian groups of Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas had built their populations up enough to sustain mass epidemics. Evidence shows that these populations suffered from such diseases as syphilis, tuberculosis, a few intestinal parasites, and some types of flu, but not the diseases that had been infecting the Old World for centuries. Thus when the Europeans arrived bringing diseases such as smallpox, measles, whooping cough, etc. the natives were immunologically defenseless (Cowley, 1991).
It is believed that 40 million to 50 million people inhabited the New World before the arrival of Columbus and the Europeans, and that most of them died within a few decades. For example, Mexico's population fell from about 30 million in 1519 to 3 million in 1588. The other South and Central American countries as well as the Caribbean islands suffered the same devastation (Cowley, 1991). Mass epidemics were virtually unknown in the New World prior to the invasion of the Europeans. Aside from their lack of immunity to the pathogens, another factor in the rapid spread of the diseases could have been the weariness of the Indian populations. Due to their recent conquest and oppression by the Spaniards, the Indians were probably too tired to fight the infections.
One thing that must be noted is that contrary to popular belief, infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc. are not desig...
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...o be like syphilis in that it was haunting isolated populations before becoming global. And just as syphilis was carried globally by ships; jet planes and world-wide social changes have brought AIDS out of isolation. Like smallpox and other infectious diseases in the 16th century and AIDS in the 20th century, what new disease will hit and destroy unsuspecting populations?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cowley, Geoffrey. "The Great Disease Migration."
Newsweek (Special Issue, Fall/Winter 1991) pp. 54-56
Crosby, Alfred W. Jr. The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1972
Assignment: Write a short review of this paper for class on Friday.
In addition, overwhelming historical evidence suggests that the greatest rates of morbidity and death from infection are associated with the introduction of new diseases from one region of the world to another by processes associated with civilized transport of goods at speeds and over distances outside the range of movements common to hunting and gathering groups. (excerpt from book of same title: pp. 131-141) Cohen, M. Health and the Rise of Civilization. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
There were millions of Aztecs and only a few hundred Spaniards. How was it then that the Spaniards, even with their steel and guns, could overrun them? The answer lies in a number the Spanish had even more of: microbes, which no one counted on. Yes, the encounters destroyed the Indians’ homes and made them slaves, but they also brought in disease and unknown illnesses to the New World. Millions had died, and generations disappeared. 50 years after the Spanish conquest 88% of the Mexican population was destroyed and only up to 200 thousand natives survived the ordeal. Also, the second in the list of causes of death had become the commonplace brutal treatment and poor conditions during slavery, and the third was by war
Plagues and Peoples written by William H. McNeill follows the patterns of epidemics and endemics within human history. It is within this history that McNeill finds parallels between diseases and humans in the forms of microparasitism and macroparasitism. Merely from the title, McNeill gives equal importance to viruses and humankind. In several instances, humans behave the same way viruses, bacteria, and parasites do in order to survive and to compete. Surprisingly enough, McNeill’s overarching theme can be summarized using his last sentence, asserting that “Infectious disease which antedated the emergence of humankind will last as long as humanity itself, and will surely remain, as it has been hitherto, one of the fundamental parameters and
Beginning in the fifteenth century with the arrival of Columbus, natives of the Americas were infected with European diseases that proved to be deadly to the Indians. The population in northern Mexico suffered an immense decimation of 2,500,000 peoples to less than 320,000 by the end of the sixteenth century (Vargas, 30). The Spaniards’ cruel treatment of the natives aided this vast reduction in the Aztec and Mexican population, enabling the Spaniards to conquer the lands of the Aztecs and other native tribes. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Spaniards had expanded their conquests into the southwest region of what is now known as the United States of America.
Human mobility, in terms of European transcontinental exploration and colonization, began to truly flourish after the 1400s. This travel, inspired by financial motives and justified by religious goals, resulted in the European dominance and decimation of countless cultures in both the Americas and Eurasia. While at first glance it seems as though this dominance was achieved through mainly military means - European militias, like Spanish conquistadors, rolling over native tribes with their technologically advanced weapons - the reality is significantly more complex. The Europeans, most likely unknowingly, employed another, equally deadly weapon during their exploits. With their travel, they brought with them the infectious diseases of their homelands, exposing the defenseless natives to foreign malady that their bodies had no hope of developing immunities against. Because of the nature of disease and their limited knowledge about its modes of infection, the Europeans were able to dispense highly contagious and mortal illnesses while limiting their contraction of any native ones to the new territories. In short, they were able to kill without being killed. In this way, the travel of disease in conjunction with the travel of humans in a search for exotic commodities was able to limit or even halt the development of some cultures while allowing others to flourish at exponential rates.
The reactions of sheer shock and awe is used by the author to support the thesis by demonstrating the brilliance of the society that existed in the Americas before Columbus relative to to Europe and the society Columbus brought to America. An additional way Charles C. Mann supports his thesis is explaining why the natives were defeated if their society was so advanced. Precisely, he stated that disease was why the native society fell: “The People of the First Light could avoid or adapt to European technology but not European disease. Their societies were destroyed by weapons their opponents could not control and did not even know they had”(70). A common reason for disagreeing with the author’s thesis is that the natives could not have been so advanced if they were so easily dispatched by the European people. Fortunately, Charles C. Mann addresses this issue furthering his thesis that advanced society existed in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus by stating it was not the society of the Europeans that was more advanced but rather the uncontrollable spread of disease by the Europeans. A final way Charles C.
...Lord, 4). To put this in perspective, “The 150 years after Columbus’s arrival brought a toll on human life in this [the Western] hemisphere comparable to all of the world’s losses in World War II,” (Lord, 4). In his book, Plagues and Peoples, William McNeill attributes this population reduction with the old world diseases that “swept across the hemisphere far faster than the Europeans that brought them,” (Lord, 1).
“As European adventurers traversed the world in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries they initiated the “Columbian Exchange” of plants, animals, and diseases.”(P. 26). The Columbian Exchange refers to a period of exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. The exchange of plants, animals, diseases and more modernized technology, beginning after Columbus landing in the Americas in 1492. It lasted through the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Domesticated animals such as cattle, horses, sheep and pigs were introduced to the Americas. The Americas introduced to Europe many new crops such as potatoes, beans, squash, and maize. In time Native people learned to raise European livestock and European and Africans planted American crops. This was the positive effect of the encounter and it was largely responsible for the doubling of the world’s population in the next three hundred years. There were also many negative effects to the “Columbian Exchange” A major consequence was the spread of disease in the New World. Diseases carried by Europeans and Africans devastated the population of the Americas. As Europeans traveled through the Americas epidemics came with them. Typhus, diphtheria, malaria, influenza, cholera, and smallpox killed many of the native people. One example was
The Columbian exchange was the widespread transfer of various products such as animals, plants, and culture between the Americas and Europe. Though most likely unintentional, the byproduct that had the largest impact from this exchange between the old and new world was communicable diseases. Europeans and other immigrants brought a host of diseases with them to America, which killed as much as ninety percent of the native population. Epidemics ravaged both native and nonnative populations of the new world destroying civilizations. The source of these epidemics were due to low resistance, poor sanitation, and inadequate medical knowledge- “more die of the practitioner than of the natural course of the disease (Duffy).” These diseases of the new world posed a serious
Plagues and Peoples. By William H. McNeill. (New York: Anchor Books: A division of Random House, Inc., 1976 and Preface 1998. Pp. 7 + 365. Acknowledgements, preface, map, appendix, notes, index.)
Microbes from Europe introduced new diseases and produced devastating epidemics that swept through the native populations (Nichols 2008). The result from the diseases brought over, such as smallpox, was a demographic catastrophe that killed millions of people, weakened existing societies, and greatly aided the Spanish and Portuguese in their rapid and devastating conquest of the existing American empires (Brinkley 2014). Interaction took place with the arrival of whites and foreigners. The first and perhaps most profound result of this exchange was the imp...
The rail market continued to grow and by the 1860’s all major cities within the United States were connected by rail. The main diseases that showed the most virulence during the time were cholera, yellow fever and consumption, now known as tuberculosis. The 9th census mortality data showed that 1 out 7 deaths from disease were caused by tuberculosis and 1 out of 24 disease deaths were resulting from cholera. . Until the 1870s the general consensus of the spread of disease through population was still the primitive idea that it came from the individual and not specifically the pathogen.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them. This triggered the largest population decline in all recorded history. Fifty percent of the Native American population had died of disease within twenty years. Soon after, Native Americans began to question their religion and doubted the ability of shamen to heal. This was the first step towards the destruction of Native cultures. The Native Americans had never experienced anything like these deadly diseases before and they came to believe that Europeans had the power to kill or give life.
When early Europeans arrived in the United States more than 500 years ago, they were surprised to see Native Americans recovering from illnesses and injuries that they considered fatal. In many ways, the Indians' herbal remedies were far superior to those known to the new immigrants. But, for the Native Americans, they had no remedies for the "diseases of civilization," or white man's diseases, such as measles and small pox, which would wipe out thousands of them over the next few centuries. Not
Nurses play a critical role on patient’s health; the relationship that a nurse and patient develop can in some cases be life altering. Applying these characteristics and being a servant leader to patients establishes life long impressions and makes critical difference in treatment allowing for optimal care to be received. Always listen to patients concerns, be empathetic in their concerns, and help while committing to their personal growth, one never knows whom they are actually a leader for. Some individuals look up to nurses and count
The characteristics brought forth in the book revolve around the ideas of Christianity and so they are not new ideas, but are ideas that were re-imagined for the current world. The basis of the book’s ideas comes mostly out of I Corinthian’s chapter 13 which is often quoted as the “love” chapter. This chapter speaks about how important love is in the Christian faith. However, Hunter (1998) brings forth knowledge of the different types of love from the Greek words used in the Bible. The type that is most important according to “the teacher” from the book is the agape love. This love is the most important kind because it is the kind of love we are meant to show to each and every person no matter who they are or what their position is in life (Hunter, 1998). This author strongly believes that agape love guides and acts as one of the foundations for servant leadership. Without this love for each person we cannot truly serve their needs and help them become the best possible version of themselves. The struggle is of course to treat each person we meet with agape love because it is not always easy to love everyone we meet. It is important, however, that we as nurses act in agape love to ensure that our patients receive the best care possible on their way to optimum