POLTICS: Re: Population reduction

[Guest guest]

At 12:55 PM 3/20/2005, you wrote:

>> I just thought of something: Why weren't the Europeans wiped out by

>> American

>> diseases?

>

>Probably because the Native Americans lived much more spread out and

>didn't harbor many diseases, whereas the Europeans lived compactly and

>therefore had more disease-causing germs that they adapted to live

>with.

>

>Chris

In fact, there is a whole book on the subject: Guns, Germs, and Steel!

The Europeans DID get syphilus from the New World, which was pretty

nasty (worse than it is now). But the dense European population, esp.

with the farm animals, created new viruses. One of which, smallpox,

was released onto the Native Americans via some pigs the Spaniards

let loose. They think now that 95% of the Native Americans were wiped

out before the English came.

Heidi Jean