Is it quite possible that the Explorers of America poisoned the Native Indians?

Question

If you study the history of exploration of the American Continent, you find stories of much atrocity. The Spanish explorers like Cortes and DeSoto as well as Columbus and a few others sole purpose was to scout out the leaders and powerful tribes and destroy their civilization. It is well known that many indians in America died from small pox and mumps and other sickness and disease brought by the explorers. In fact it they were said to have wiped out whole entire indian nations. Is it not possible that these diseases and illnesses were intentionally inflicted on the Native Indians in order to rid them like mice from their land? Anybody know anything about this?

Answer 1

No, one popular theory maintains that the viral/bacterial diseases were not purposefully inflicted (at first). The theory suggests European explorers were descendants of people that farmed animals (like pigs, cows, goats) for a much longer time (millenia longer) that North American Indians. Therefore the Europeans had much higher resistance to the germs that gave the Indians the disease.

However, in the 1700's (early 1800's ?) the British used germ warfare against the Hurons in what is now southern Ontario (then called Huronia) and wiped out about 40,000 people.

Answer 2

There have been many misconceptions about the spread of disease in the New World by the visits of Europeans. Some medical historians have tried to trace back the strains of disease to come to some conclusions. It has not produced any definite answers yet.

Intentional spread of disease is a tricky thing to substantiate. Diseases like smallpox, which you mentioned, could just as well be communicated by accident rather than intentionally. Remember, there were diseases that were unknown in the New World, because of the geographical isolation from the Old World. Native populations would have no resistance to strains of disease from the rest of the world; in an age of limited medical understanding anyway, thousands could have died from a contagious disease transmitted from a single sailor or soldier.

Could the transmission of disease have been intentional? Although there are conspiracy theories abounding,it is not clear whether it was done on a consistent policy.

The earliest reports are of a suggestion by a British general in the French & Indian War to spread smallpox to the indians through contaminated blankets. But there was no document that shows whether this suggestion was ever carried out.

Here is a website you can read about the plan of Lord Jeffrey Amherst:

It is titled "Smallpox, Indians and Germ Warfare" by T.J. Nelson:

http://brneurosci.org/smallpox.html

Answer 3

Anything is possible. As for Ray and his take on the British involvement in North America and Canada, well you only have to view history to get the real perspective. Just for you Ray: In 1980 the US Supreme Court ruled that the 1876 seizure of the Black Hills violated treaties signed by the Sioux. In the majority opinion Justice Blackmum wrote "A more ripe and rank case of dishonourable dealings will never, in all probability, be found in our history" The Court refused to restore the land to the Sioux, and ordered that compensation be paid instead. That award, now worth more than $600 million remains unclaimed. To date the Sioux will not agree to surrender their claim to the Black Hills, a place they feel is sacred. Ray - not a very good analogy, Northern Ireland and the Native Americans. That would be more like the US takeover/theft of Texas from the Mexicans.

Answer 4

Yes you are absolutely correct!
It is documented that the natives were given blankets that were infected.
This is not the only time disease war fair was used against the natives. In the 1930's residential schools (in Canada I know for fact and it has been documented) that native children diagnosed with TB were intentionally slept in the same bed with healthy native children. Anything to get rid of an entire people.

Answer 5

It did happen sometimes. Sometimes it was unintentional, but there are documented cases where the British colonials gave the Native Americans (Native Indians are people born in India) smallpox-laden blankets. The Native Americans would use them to keep warm and within a couple of days had caught smallpox and died.

That is the only one (though it happened repeatedly) that I know of for sure. My guess would be that you are correct however, and that there are quite a few more cases. They may simply have been smart enough not to write it down for future generations to find out about it.

Answer 6

The first case of germ warfare was in N.America in the Eighteenth century. The British General Amhurst ordered blankets that had been used to treat smallpox victims in a military hospital to be given to the local Indian tribes as a peace offering. They were all wiped out by smallpox leaving the British troops the only military force in the area.

Answer 7

Did they really have the technology to transmit diseases in a controlled way to others without coming in contact with them themselves?

I think it was more a chance thing, as those diseases were rampant amongst the Europeans at the time, so having at least one member of the ship's crew or passenger as a carrier would have been enough to spread it.

Then, as the Native Americans weren't "immune" or were intollerant to such diseases, they were easily decimated.When they arrived in the New World, they weren't sure to find and form of ancient peoples already occupying the land, and when they did find them, those diseases were spread upon contact, be it friendly or not.

Answer 8

You obviously don't realise that biological warfare is a product of the 20th century. The American Indians had no resistance to the European diseases that were unwittingly imported by European explorers because they did not exist in America at the time. This sort of thing is not just a distortion of history it is vicious propaganda against anything that existed Before Blair.

Answer 9

the early explorer- psychopaths were perhaps the role models for the current crop. when commercial advantage is at issue, greed and psychopathy is not far behind, eh? in any event, the 19th century histories note that, as one example, "gifts" of infection ridden blankets were intentionally given to the lakota, i believe, to effect the desired results. genocide has always been popular with those in leadership positions associated with the "military-industrial complex" in even its earliest stages. kind people can not fathom the degree of psychopathy that runs this planet. very sad.

Answer 10

My partner is Canadian and relates tales which I take to be common knowledge of how the native peoples were deliberately infected by being given infected blankets in trade.