Was the Discovery of America a disaster?
The discovery of America by the Europeans can be considered as one of the most disastrous event in the history of mankind. This is because the Europeans brought with them many practices that were barbaric and did not favor either the natives or the Africans who were shipped from Africa to work as slaves in the plantations. It is assumed that the fact that Europeans had contact with Europe would have made them have a civilizing and Christian influence on the native Indian population; however, this was not the case. The Europeans brought with them disasters that could not have been imagined by the Natives.
When Europeans first arrived in America, they stereotyped indigenous communities. Despite the fact that some American Natives were cannibals, a majority had simple religion; they were nevertheless stereotyped by the Europeans as uncivilized heathens. The Europeans cast themselves as saviors and brought the natives gospel. In reality, the Native Americans were subjected to some of the most barbaric treatments the world has ever known. The Brutality can be attributed to the fact that most of the Europeans who went to America were convicted criminals from jails across Europe. They dehumanized the Native Indians because of the treatment that they received; they did not have sympathy for them, for they considered them inferior to them.
Europeans forced indigenous communities to become slaves. Many Europeans who came to America were in search of wealth, they exploited the native populations that they found on their way. The Indians were made to sift grain of gold from the soil; they were threatened with whips if they were slow. Men were forced to work in the mines; they were treated like beasts of burden, rather than as human beings. The Indians who were taken as captives by the Europeans lived in conditions of semi starvation; they were treated as animals and were only offered the bones left by the Europeans at their meal table. Some Natives tried to run away to the mountains; however, Europeans hunted them and made them to work in chains as a punishment. Demand for gold plus minerals contributed to rise of slavery in America. Many Natives died from violence, torture plus the hardships that came with being relocated to other places.
Europeans came with severe diseases that killed natives. When Europeans arrived in America, the population of natives dwindled. Many people believe that the demographic collapse was caused by massacres and ill treatment that were perpetrated by the Europeans conquerors and settlers. Despite the fact that the stories of the European atrocities have some substantial truth, the conquest, and brutality were not the main reason that caused the disappearance of the indigenous people. Disease played a bigger role in this demographic disaster. The Europeans, plus the African slaves that they carried with them carried some bacteria and viruses across the Atlantic, the Native Americans had never encountered this type of diseases.
The most prevalent pathogens included measles, fever, typhus, and malaria, bubonic and pneumonic plague. The infections that resulted from these pathogens immensely afflicted the Europeans and Africans, however, because these people had developed immunities over the years the effects were less devastating, the people of these continents had already developed immunity. Virulent infections, for example, small pox infected a whole community affecting a large percentage of the populace. Indigenous communities became infected with severe diseases, they died in large numbers.
Europeans who came to America disrupted food supplies. Many Europeans travelled to America has no insight of concepts utilized by Indians for the purpose of maintaining hunting plus fishing. Europeans claimed that indigenous community land that was not under cultivation was being wasted. For many Indians, even the land that they sold to the Europeans was still theirs for hunting and fishing. This resulted in many conflicts, many Europeans let their livestock roam freely in the land, and this resulted in the destruction of the environment and the ecosystem. This in turn endangered the wildlife and diminished the Indians traditional food supply.
It is evident that the European discovery of America was a disaster; this is because it resulted in negative effects that threatened the life and the well-being of the Native Americans. When the Europeans arrived in America, they stereotyped the Natives despite the fact that some had a religion; they considered them as heathens and thought they had an obligation to forcefully convert them into Christians. The Europeans turned the African American to become their slaves, they exploited them and forcefully made them to work for them, the natives were subjected to barbaric treatments; the brutality can be attributed to the fact that a majority of the Europeans who came to America were convicted criminals. Diseases introduced by Europeans killed Natives and resulted in population decrease. Disruption of food supplies further declined native populations. It is evident that the arrival of Europeans in America was a disastrous phenomenon.