European Travel and the Spread of Western Ideology Essay

This article focused on depopulation via smallpox. “Within just a few generations, the continents of the Americas were virtually emptied of their native inhabitants – some academics estimate that approximately 20 million people may have died in the years following the European invasion – up to 95% of the population of the Americas.” The article goes on to describe the transmission process of smallpox, incubation period, and symptoms of the disease. It then discusses the fact that diseases such as smallpox, influenza and measles were a product of the European society, specifically livestock farming and close interaction with domesticated livestock. Though smallpox outbreaks would occur in Europe, killing major portions of the population, some would survive and build immunities which they genetically passed to the next generations. Because the Native Americans had no exposure to smallpox and no genetic immunities, exposure to this virus was deadly all across the continent. “More victims of colonization were killed by Eurasian germs, than by either the gun or the sword, making germs the deadliest agent of conquest.”

Did Europeans purposefully infect the Native Americans? That question will never be answered. Whether intentional or accidental, the truth remains that disease was indeed brought to the early Native American culture due to European expansion. The true question is in Taking Sides, issue 2, Was Disease the Key Factor in the Depopulation of Native Americans in the Americas? In this particular issue two sides are represented; yes by Collin G. Calloway, and no by David S. Jones. Let’s take a look at Calloway’s perspective towards the issue.

Germs, guns, and steel were the advantages the Europeans have over the native people. Europeans brought diseases that the natives lacked immunity to. These diseases killed about eighty percent of the natives. They also had firearms and steel weapons. Although bows and arrows were much more accurate and easier at the time, guns were still advantageous.

However, the Native Americans didn’t just use these resources they garnered solely for food - they used the resources in several aspects of their lives, specifically for health. The Native Americans were dependant on the use of plants and other resources found in nature to use for curatives. Historians often attest that these curatives were far superior to the ones that Europeans used, and thus the span of life for Native Americans was often longer than that of the European people (The People). However, upon Native American and European contact, the Europeans introduced new, foreign diseases that were deadly because the Native Americans had never been exposed to these diseases, and thus did not have natural immunities to them. This was the same for other infectious diseases introduced to the Europeans, namely syphilis. Although, the amount of Europeans affected by syphilis was not even near the amount of Native Americans killed by some of the European diseases brought over in the Columbian exchange. Bartolomé de Las Casas commented on the epidemic of European viruses that killed thousands of Native Americans: “Who of those in

Culture wasn’t the only thing that the Europeans brought over to the Americas. Along with their customs and rules, came the diseases that the Native American’s have never been exposed to. The Europeans brought many communicable diseases such as small pox and measles which were transmitted to the Native Americans through trade goods or someone infected with them. This quickly annihilated most of the Native American population.

The European conquest of the new world was most commonly attributed to the superiority of the Europeans in all the facets of their confrontation. They had the superior weaponry, and were thought to have a superior intellect. After all, they were just bringing "civilization" to the new world, right? It sounds nice when you are learning about Columbus in grade school, but the traditional story is pretty far from the truth. The truth is that the Europeans, when they discovered this was a brand new world and not the spice islands, sought to rape the land for its gold and natural resources and enslave the Amerindians (native Americans), who were regarded to

Europeans were in a much closer proximity to the Americas than they were to asian countries. European societal groups, which included the competing merchants, impoverished nobles, monarchs, and commoners, Christian missionaries, and minorities different yet very strong motivations for having participation in empire building. European trading companies enabled the mobilization of both material resources like wood and crops as well as humans. The Disease in the Americas that had been brought by spanish conquerors made the natives weak and unable to stop the European invasion

Although there were many cases where the native North Americans did try to resist European colonisation, disease contributed greatly to European dominance.

The Old World brought along diseases and forced labor, the deadly causes that took the lives of millions of Native Americans, however, the Spanish and Portuguese can only take responsibility for one of these deadly causes. The spreading of smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, etc., were not intentional. The europeans, immuned to most of the diseases that spread throughout the Native American communities, were unaware of the germs that they had carried over to the New World. The diseases allowed the conquistadores to quickly conquer various areas in the Americas, but left 90% of the Native population dead. On the other hand, the Spanish and Portuguese are responsible for enforcing labor unto the Native Americans. Native Americans worked as sex slaves or forced to mine for precious metals to feed Europe’s economy. Besides that, the plantations in which African slaves worked on occupied the Native American’s territory, causing disruption to their land.

In the Americas, European settlers and conquistadors brought disease that devastated Native American communities. They also forced many Native Americans off their land to build settlements. Many native cultures were almost completely destroyed because of Europeans coming to America.

Without making Europeans out to be vile, cruel and violent, we should recognize that they had superior power but they gave new additions to Native Americans.

We as a world together have been through a lot of changes and made a lot of advances over the past couple of centuries. Many have argued about the outcome of the European expansion on the Americas. Some people feel that the Europeans had both a positive and negative impact on the expansion; however, the negative impact gave a devastating result, which would continue to change history for almost four hundred years. The Europeans were manipulative towards to indigenous people of the Americas. They exploited them, using them as their personal slaves. Most importantly, they silently murdered the Natives by introducing them to diseases such as the measles and smallpox. Consequently, a small pox epidemic was caused, which resulted in the

Throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, the world witnessed a global expansion as well as a compaction of people, cultures, and ideas. The need for goods, as well as the process of mercantilism to inflate economies, was instrumental in the advancement of seafaring technologies, the need to spread religion, and the eventual globalization of the slave market. The four major regions in the world, which were the stepping stones of globalization, are Africa, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Americas, and finally East Asia.

Historically the treatment of Native Americans has been highly problematic, especially throughout the colonization of the New World. Although, when colonising some Europeans took a merciful and sympathetic approach to the Native Americans, generally the treatment towards the indigenous people was not humane. Not only did the Native Americans die at the hand of the settlers, they also died from diseases that had been brought to the new world by explorers for which they had no immunity. In some cases diseases such as smallpox wiped out entire tribes. Together, the introduction of diseases and the actions of the European settlers had devastating effects on the Native Americans.

The interaction between the European powers and the native people of Latin America resulted in diseases which deducted the native population immensely. In example, places such as the Dominican Republic were seized by the Spanish conquistadors. The only use that the natives were to them were for workforce of their own land. After being exposed to diseases with which they hadn’t an immunity for rapidly caused the population to decline. This circumstance left little choice but to ship slaves from Africa to the island for work. The mindless control of the Spanish resulted in the almost complete deterioration of the native people and their culture in that area.