HIS102Y1 Lecture Notes - Ethnology, New Laws, Smallpox
Document Summary
Over thousands of years people develop immunity because of coexistence in. Smallpox, measels, common cold, indigenous americans had no immunity. They were isolated from the african and asians pool of contagions for centuries. American disease were not among the most deadly. This is why the europeans did not die en masse. Disease was probably the prime reason for indian death in the early contact years. Waves of disease and plague hit the spanish colonies. Oviedo believes that the taino population went from 1,000,000 to 500 people. Las casas thinks it was closer to 5 million. However, between 1,3,and 8 million people were killed in the first generation. People in the jungal frontiers escaped the high death rates because of seclusion, but also means they develop no immunity and could be killed off later. Poor nutrition made people more succeptible to disease. Practices of death: mourning, burial rituals, being around dead bodies also facilitates disease spread.
