Finished Su 9/ll/ll
This is the Children's Edition of Mann's book, yet I think that it covered the essential points.
Modern historians tend to believe that The New World was relatively 'untouched' before the arrival of the Europeans. However, it is Mann's contention that it was disease that decimated the native populations before the large influx of immigrants, and this is why the land seemed to be pristine.
-The forests of Amazonia contained thousands of carefully planted tree gardens which were used as a food source.
-Sophisticated cities and huge pyramids existed before those in Egypt.
-Native American cities were much larger and more complex than previously thought.
-Maize(corn) was biogenically engineered by the Indians.
-Indians did manage game populations. Burning large sections of landscape late in the year guaranteed new growth in the spring which would attract animals to hunt.
-Diseases were spread by the invaders use of domesticated animals such as pigs and cattle. Local populations had no history of domestication, and this left them vulnerable.
-"Zoonotic" is a disease transmitted from animals to humans. Measles, smallpox, influenza, and diphtheria are examples of this form of contagion.
-When the Europeans arrived in New England 90% of the indigenous population had already succumbed to disease.
"Milpa"- The traditional Mesoamerican field or garden plot, in which farms grow both maize and beans, together with a variety of other crops, such as squash, peppers, and avocados. This insured soil conservation.
FUN FACT: One hundred and two English people on the Mayflower arrived on the coast of Massachusetts six weeks before the beginning of winter without food or shelter. What were they thinking?
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