The video discusses the impact of European explorers on the indigenous population of the New World, particularly the spread of diseases such as smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis, influenza, bubonic plague, cholera, mumps, measles, and more. These diseases were brought by the Europeans and spread rapidly through the indigenous population, leading to a significant drop in the population by at least 90%.
The video also explores why the Europeans did not get sick from these diseases, despite the indigenous population being vulnerable to them. The answer is not that the Europeans had better immune systems, but rather that the New World did not have the same diseases for them to catch. The video suggests that the New World lacked the conditions for plagues to thrive, such as large, densely populated cities with poor sanitation.
The video also delves into the concept of domestication, explaining that the New World had fewer animal species suitable for domestication compared to the Old World. This lack of domesticated animals limited exposure to germ sources, food production, population growth, and the formation of cities, making plagues in the New World almost impossible.
In contrast, the Old World had a greater number of domesticated animals, which led to the development of complex societies and the spread of plagues to outsiders. The video concludes by suggesting that the game of civilization is more about access to domesticated animals and their diversity, rather than the players themselves.
1. The indigenous population of the New World dropped by at least 90 percent between the first Europeans arriving in 1492 and the Victorian Age.
2. The cause of this drop was not the conquistadors and company, who killed many people, but the diseases they brought with them, including smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis, influenza, bubonic plague, cholera, mumps, measles, and more.
3. These diseases spread quickly from the first explorers to the coastal tribes and then onward through a hemisphere of people with no defenses against them, resulting in tens of millions of deaths.
4. The Europeans did not get sick because the New World did not have plagues for them to catch.
5. The New World did not have big, dense, terribly sanitized, deeply interconnected cities for plagues to thrive.
6. The germs that cause plagues come from animals, but jumping species is extraordinarily rare.
7. The New World did not have good animal candidates for domestication, almost everything big enough to be useful is also too dangerous or too agile.
8. The only native domestication contestant in the New World was llamas, which are better than nothing, but not as useful as other animals.
9. The lack of New World animals to domesticate limited not only exposure to germ sources but also limited food production, which limited population growth, which limited cities, which made plagues in the New World and almost an impossibility in the Old World.
10. When ships landed in the New World, there was no America pox to bring back.