Pilgrims vs. Greeks: Hypothetical Scenario

[Vonz90]

The native americans did have agriculture. The Mississipean culture raised crops and lived in cities and villages. The later Cherokee when the spaniards came through had a caste society and were also agricultural living in villages. By the time the English started to colenize the plagues had destroyed theur societies. If not for those plagues there would not have been sucessful colinization and suplanting if the natives. Look Mexico is much more mixed with lots of mestizos, the plagues there were not as bad as what hit north america.

There was some simple agriculture but not the type of intensive farming that was necessary to support complex society. They would farm a spot for a few years and then move when the soil became exausted, that sort of thing. Not many of the tribes even did that much. Thus no large permanent cities, specialization, etc.

There was the mound culture in the Mississippi valley that mirrored Mexican / Central American culture, but for whatever reason they had collapsed a couple of hundred years before Columbus.

[Frosch]

And yet, if I have my facts straight, most indians died before we ever saw them. Our microbes preceded us. The non-nomadic ones died faster.

[HTRN]

Why were we able to decimate them with disease but not the other way? Because they lived in tribes and we lived in crowded, dirty cities and thus had strong immune systems?

We gave them small pox. They gave us Syphillis.

[Greg]

And yet, if I have my facts straight, most indians died before we ever saw them. Our microbes preceded us. The non-nomadic ones died faster.

Spaniard microbes preceded us, and they had access to all the choicest microbes of the Med basin.

[Greg]

Why were we able to decimate them with disease but not the other way? Because they lived in tribes and we lived in crowded, dirty cities and thus had strong immune systems?

We gave them small pox. They gave us Syphillis.

I said that only a week ago.

[Frosch]

We had endemic diseases, which we call childhood diseases (no way you reach adulthood without getting them). They had no resistance, so the virulence was off the charts. We killed them with measles.

[Vonz90]

And yet, if I have my facts straight, most indians died before we ever saw them. Our microbes preceded us. The non-nomadic ones died faster.

I actually think that is related. With little agriculture or specialization, there was less trade, thus less travel and less spreading of diseases and thus less average immunity. On average Europeans had very high immunity because they were a crossroads and thus exposed to everything already.

[HTRN]

Why were we able to decimate them with disease but not the other way? Because they lived in tribes and we lived in crowded, dirty cities and thus had strong immune systems?

We gave them small pox. They gave us Syphillis.

I said that only a week ago.

But it was so important, it had to be said twice!