¶ … European Epidemics on Native American Lifestyles
When the Europeans arrived in America, the Native Americans were a settled agricultural people. These Indians relied heavily on corn, beans and squash and their diet was supplemented through the gathering of wild plants and hunting. (Geier, 1991)
Hundreds of thousands of Native Americans lived in America with the greatest diversity - as many as 120 - of languages, dialects, and cultures of any comparably sized are in the world. For example, Indians in the far north had very different languages and cultures from the central and southern tribes.
Tribes traded with each other but were self-sufficient for the most part. With bountiful game, fish, and plants available and a moderate climate, most Indians bands led stable, productive and peaceful lives.
The tranquil lifestyle of the Indians changed dramatically with the introduction of European settlers. Many hunters and trappers were attracted to America by the abundance of fur-bearing animals.
Tragically, with the arrival of these European explorers came diseases, which decimated the Native American population. (Debo, 1970) Malaria and smallpox epidemics swept throughout the Indian villages. As a result, much of the diverse Native American culture has disappeared.
Epidemics Arrive in America
In early America, when people of three continents came together, the Native Americans were dramatically affected by epidemics, suffering higher mortality rates than any other time in human history. (Geier, 1991) People from Latin America, North America and Europe merged, each carrying and introducing diseases indigenous to their own societies.
When the Native Americans first encountered common European diseases like smallpox, measles and dysentery, millions died. In extreme cases, 90% of certain Indian tribes died as European epidemics swept through their villages.
The Native Americans were not the only ones who suffered from foreign ailments. As a result of sexual contact with the Indians, Europeans developed a new disease, known as syphilis, and this was quickly spread throughout Europe.
Most immigrants to the New World experienced an initial period during which they caught various new diseases. (Debo, 1970) Africans also endured an initial process that cost many lives. In addition, they introduced various tropical diseases, like yellow fever and malaria, to the New World.
It is estimated that some 400,000 Native Americans lived in America by 1600. With the arrival of English and Dutch people, this number was dramatically reduced as a result of new diseases, such as plague, smallpox, chickenpox, mumps, measles and influenza. (Bailey, 1969) Between 1616 and 1619, the Native American people were nearly wiped out as a result of a mysterious plague, most likely either bubonic or pneumonic, which was contracted from Europeans sailing along the coast of Maine.
This plague killed about 90% of the seacoast Algonquians. The Great Lakes native inhabitants, including the Huron, Iroquois and Mohawks, experienced an epidemic of smallpox that killed at least 50% of the inhabitants during the 1630s and 1640s.
In 1759, an epidemic of smallpox killed half the Cherokee and Catawba. The native populations were often so destabilized by these European epidemics that their losses sometimes reached 90% or higher.
Smallpox was the most dangerous disease in North America, eventually killing thousands of Native Americans. Smallpox is a highly communicable disease characterized by high fevers and rapid pulse, followed by the development of eruptions. (Dowd, 1991) Smallpox is usually transmitted between people, but the virus often contaminates clothing, bedding, dust or inanimate objects and remains infectious for months.
Exposure to the disease resulted in almost universal contagion among people who had never been previously exposed to the disease. The occurrence of a large-scale epidemic usually resulted from the absence of the disease from a population for a significant time; when smallpox returned, most inhabitants had no natural defense against the virus. European migrants carried smallpox to the colonies. Once contracted, no cure was available for smallpox.
After smallpox, the most lethal disease in colonial times was diphtheria, a communicable disease. Diphtheria causes the throat to swell and then become congested with a thick membrane over the larynx and trachea. (Debo, 1970)
In extreme cases, death due to respiratory obstruction, heart failure or overwhelming toxemia and shock occurs. No age is immune to the disease, but it most commonly affects small children. This was another disease brought to the New World by Europeans.
Effects on Native American Lifestyle
Native Americans died in unprecedented numbers because of diseases introduced by Europeans, both inadvertently and occasionally on purpose. By the late 1870s, when the last of the serious epidemics had swept through the indigenous population, there were only...
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