Native American Sickness

In the article “1491” by Charles Mann , Mann also talks about the most devastating impact from the contact between Europeans and Americans came from the spread of biological agents like smallpox, smallpox had the most effect on the Americas’ native populations there population could of been destroyed stated in the article that “Dobyns estimated that in the first 130 years of contact about 95 percent of the people in the Americas died—the worst demographic calamity in recorded history.” This shows just how serious smallpox was on people considering that they had no immunity to these diseases and because of this it was able to cause a major loss of population and of the people who lived they were still heavily affected by it. Mann also states “It is well known that Native Americans had no experience with many European diseases and were therefore immunologically unprepared—"virgin soil," in

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.”

From David Jones’ point of view, it is important to note that these epidemics were just some of the causes of population decline during European contact. Poverty, environmental stress, massacres, dislocation, malnutrition, and destruction of traditional subsistence patterns also changed the composition of many Native American groups. Eventually, these changes caused substantial depopulation and cultural change. Jones agrees that disease carried a decisive role; however, he argues that it is not the key factor in their depopulation. “Many factors contributed to American Indian susceptibility to Old World diseases, including lack of childhood exposure, malnutrition, and the social chaos generated by European colonization” (Jones 34).

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.

Native Americans’ bodies could not handle the extra fat and sugar in their diet. This, coupled with a decrease in intense exercise, increased obesity and brought on the rise of diabetes. The sudden lack of exercise resulted in a significant weight increase in the Native American community. Indians were used to roaming the countryside. They had to follow the buffalo or move to warmer weather. Now, they were put into permanent homes and bought their food. This created an overweight, obese group of people. Studies estimated that the overall occurrence of obesity among Native Americans was 13.7 percent for men and 16.5 percent for women. These are higher than the United States’ rates of 9.1 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. It is reported that the United States spends $93 billion a year on preventable obesity- related illnesses and diseases.

When the European travelers came to America they brought over may diseases including small pox, influenza, measles, and Scarlett fever. The Native Americans had never been exposed to these diseases before consequently they did not have antibodies to fight of these diseases which meant that many people would die from the exposure to the various diseases. The introduction of these diseases created a high death toll in the Native American population, killing more than half of the original population.

As with many races and ethnicities, Native Americans have had the front row seat in social injustices related to gender and race from the social institutions in the United States. Native Americans faced much discrimination along with other groups when it came to educational institutions and businesses. In education, many young children had lower math and writing skills leading to fewer high school diplomas (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). In labor, Native Americans had high unemployment rates and a lower labor force than the rest of the demographic population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). They also have problems with poverty since more than twenty-five percent of this group live below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Additionally, there are high rates of violent victimization and contributing factors such as childhood trauma that lead to overall high deaths. A major contributing factor to these deaths is alcoholism which exceeds the US rates by seven times (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). Many of these statistics indicate great injustice. Furthermore, according to the Indian Health Services, American Indians have lower health and life expectancy when compared to the rest of America (2015). These staggering statistics point out some prevalent inequalities in modern social institutions that exist with Native Americans.

The people in Europe had evolved to obtain immune systems that would fight off the illnesses. The New World had not been exposed to these advanced diseases, so the Native Americans fell weak to these modern diseases. In the article, “Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?”, the author states, “He and his crew brought awful diseases, such as smallpox, to which the men and women of the New World had no defenses and millions died” (Minster 1). Columbus brought numerous diseases to the New World and wiped out a good majority of the Native American population. Christopher Columbus established a trade that swapped goods, crops, animals, and diseases. The Columbian Exchange had brought many epidemics to the Americas (“Cultures Make Contact” 33). Although, Columbus and his crew originally brought over some illnesses, but as people began to trade, diseases began to spread to the Native Americans. The Columbian Exchange instituted a trade of diseases, including the most commonly spread: smallpox, measles, and

Many major epidemics originated from diseases of domesticated animals: measles, influenza, typhus, and bubonic plague (Diamond, 1997). Centuries of living near livestock had basically inoculated European settlers against these diseases. Only those Europeans who could survive a plague outbreak were able to pass on their genes, leading to successive generations being less susceptible to the illnesses. According to Diamond, smallpox was a major player in the European invasion of the New World. Native Americans, however, did not have cattle, only llamas. They had never been exposed to smallpox. It decimated their populations. Historians estimate perhaps 95% of pre-Columbus Native Americans were killed by European diseases (Diamond, 1997). Because these epidemics spread in advance of the Europeans themselves, it made it that much easier for the European invaders to defeat the dwindling survivors.

During this time, the Americas had been isolated from the rest of the world and away from all its unknown diseases. When the discovery of the New World led to Europeans coming to dominate the Americas, the Native Americans did not stand a chance against the many diseases the Europeans brought. Diseases such as malaria, smallpox, and yellow fever were brought to the Americas and in turn started to decline the population of the Native Americans. The Europeans had the advantage where they were able to wipe out the natives with their diseases and take over the

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Native Americans were mostly free of serious diseases. In the 1500s, the Europeans’ arrival changed the lives of the Native Americans forever. With them, they brought disease as well as ways of life that the Native Americans had never experienced.

Many academic intellectuals currently agree that, among the many supporting aspects, infectious illnesses was one of the devastating causes of the community deterioration of the Native Americans (JBT Authors 1). It has been said that entire tribes has succumb to illnesses. It’s said to be quite hard to display precise figures on the total of the Native American population that succumb to due to European diseases is around 80% (JBT Authors 1).

The Americas before colonization were certainly not free of disease, but the natives had developed immunities to the diseases to which they had been exposed. The Europeans brought with them a plethora of new diseases to which the Native Americans had no immunities, and the results were catastrophic. Due to nearly all of diseases being communicable by air and touch, they spread like wildfire. The diseases the explorers brought included smallpox, measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, diphtheria, scarlet fever, trachoma, malaria, typhus fever, typhoid fever, influenza, cholera, and bubonic plague. However, the Europeans contracted several new diseases from the natives; these diseases included yellow fever and syphilis. Among the diseases spread to the New World, smallpox had the most devastating effect, followed by measles, influenza, and bubonic plague respectively. It has been estimated that between 25% and 50% of the Native American population was affected by smallpox. While the exact impact of these illnesses is hard to be sure of, it is inarguable that these epidemics had a devastating effect on the Native American

It was not beneficial for the European settlers to come to the new land. They also brought over foreign diseases that killed many of the natives.”Disease brought by the colonist started to ravage the native american population. By 1650, about 90 percent of the native americans living in new england died due to disease.”(Brooks)This is true, but the settlers had no knowledge of the disease they carried or that they would be threatening to the natives.They had no respect for the indians and their beliefs. “When Europeans arrived in the Americas, most did not even consider that the peoples they encountered had cultural and religious traditions that were different from their own.” (First encounter: native americans and christians 3). The puritans