HIST 1011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: The Columbian Exchange, Pertussis, Divergent Evolution
Document Summary
Although perhaps some civilizations had encountered the new world, no lasting impact. Pangea split > split of ecosystems > divergent evolution. Languages, customs, plants, animals, ecosystems, diseases, etc. Great for old world, horrible for new world. Europeans had immunity to them, often got them as kids, built up immunity, genetically less susceptible. Smallpox, measles, influenza, cholera, typhus, tb, scarlet fever, Epidemics caused by diseases brought from areas where familiar with them to area that had never encountered them before, so zero immunity. No plagues bc no big cities w constant immigration (plagues sustain themselves bc constant fresh meat) Also no animals everywhere (plagues happen when animal diseases jump to humans) No domestic animals > smaller population > no big cities w constant immigration. Rough demographic estimate from central mexican highlands: 25 million people > less than 1 million people. This caused by things other than disease, but disease = largest factor. Entire societies, social structures, governments, religions destroyed.
