3 ms·

> A large portion of that population loss in the Americas was due to diseases brought from Europe. The vast majority was caused by an ill-timed native viral he

• jacobolus 9y ago
  There were several waves of smallpox, influenza, measles, mumps, typhus, cholera, bubonic plague, tuberculosis, yellow fever, whooping cough, etc., which ran rampant through the Americas, often simultaneously ripping through the same communities. I don’t know what native virus you are referring to (citation?), but it is estimated that in many parts of the Americas population collapsed by about 90% in the course of a century or two (sometimes faster), and the scholarly consensus is that this was largely due to Eurasian diseases to which people had no immunity. The societal collapse brought on by disease also led to internecine war, helping depopulation along. And obviously the numerous instances of genocidal slaughter by Europeans and forced migration later contributed to the final native depopulation of many areas.