Back to Why did the Great Dying of the Americas happen?
Why did the Great Dying of the Americas happen?
Shows causes on the record, then each account's causes side by side. Not a single settled cause.
A connection is not evidence of wrongdoing.
1492–1650
Why did the Great Dying of the Americas happen?
Shows causes on the record, then each account’s causes side by side. Not a single settled cause.
According to Alexander Koch. Old World diseases in the Americas led to the Great Dying of the Americas.
Measles virus split from the cattle virus rinderpest: Furuse and colleagues date it around the 11th to 12th centuries, Dux and colleagues in 2020 as early as the sixth century BCE. When smallpox emerged in humans is disputed (Duggan and colleagues). Koch and colleagues say most of these diseases came from domesticated farm animals in Europe; that does not fit every disease on their list, and the studies on measles do not mention Europe. Yellow fever and malaria came from Africa, later (Bryant; Yalcindag).
War, enslavement and famine after 1492 led to the Great Dying of the Americas.
Paul Kelton, quoted by HISTORY, says British forces cut down corn and burned homes, turning people into refugees, which left them far more vulnerable to disease than infected blankets did. Jones also holds that disease must have the dominant role; his point is about what the “no immunity” story can hide.
According to David S. Jones. Old World diseases in the Americas led to the Great Dying of the Americas.
Measles virus split from the cattle virus rinderpest: Furuse and colleagues date it around the 11th to 12th centuries, Dux and colleagues in 2020 as early as the sixth century BCE. When smallpox emerged in humans is disputed (Duggan and colleagues). Koch and colleagues say most of these diseases came from domesticated farm animals in Europe; that does not fit every disease on their list, and the studies on measles do not mention Europe. Yellow fever and malaria came from Africa, later (Bryant; Yalcindag).
War, enslavement and famine after 1492 led to the Great Dying of the Americas.
Paul Kelton, quoted by HISTORY, says British forces cut down corn and burned homes, turning people into refugees, which left them far more vulnerable to disease than infected blankets did. Jones also holds that disease must have the dominant role; his point is about what the “no immunity” story can hide.
According to Jeffrey Ostler. War, enslavement and famine after 1492 led to the Great Dying of the Americas.
Paul Kelton, quoted by HISTORY, says British forces cut down corn and burned homes, turning people into refugees, which left them far more vulnerable to disease than infected blankets did. Jones also holds that disease must have the dominant role; his point is about what the “no immunity” story can hide.
Named in 3 of the 3 accounts recorded here: War, enslavement and famine after 1492.
Shows causes on the record, then each account’s causes side by side. Not a single settled cause.
A connection is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Drawn from the sourced links on its answer page. Change a link and this story changes with it.