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Politics : Ask Michael Burke
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To: Sid Turtlman who wrote (66074)8/11/1999 10:48:00 AM
From: Nadine Carroll  Read Replies (1) of 132070
 
"As an additional benefit ascribed to the plague, it helped weed out from the gene pool those who were, well, susceptible to plague. In a few centuries European explorers made extensive contact with people in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. In most cases the Europeans' initial contacts caused diseases to spread and decimate the locals, making the subsequent military conflicts one sided. The Europeans themselves didn't pick up anything terribly fatal from the locals, partially because the descendents of plague survivors were relatively disease resistant."

The Europeans did pick up one or two things -- the pox (syphilis) is first recorded in Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

The spread of European diseases such as chickenpox or measles certainly devastated isolated populations. It doesn't really explain the conquest and domination of India or China, though. Or do you know of cases?
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