The incidence of disease was purely accidental, and therefore it is absurd to hold us accountable (besides, the estimates of the indigenous population prior to the advent of the Spanish is pulled out of thin air, with no real substantiation).
I am not speaking as "the U.S.", in any event. I deplore the Trail of Tears and the Middle Passage, and consider them black marks on our history. They have nothing much to do with me personally, though, and certainly have nothing to do with the truth or falsity of my observation.
Anyway, all sorts of barbaric things have been done for greed, power, and profit, whether under "color of law" or cover of religion. That is not quite the same as ideological mass murder or persecution, nor is it, frankly, on the same scale.
By the way, the Westerward Migration was the opposite of "economic wealth for the few". Rather, it opened up homesteading opportunities for masses of people who might otherwise have despaired, and led to the United States becoming an agricultural power house that could supply many beyond its borders.
Also, by the way, there was no such thing as a "post- Industrial country" at the time. There were a handful of industrializing nations. |
