Columbian Diseases Exchange with Incas

Introduction to the Columbian Exchange

Diseases were a major part of the Columbian Exchange for numerous reasons. The exchange facilitated the spread of diseases across many regions worldwide, significantly affecting the Native American population and many others. People today have stronger immune systems partly because of the spread of diseases during the Columbian Exchange, which has made a huge impact on the world over the centuries. Europeans had been living in dense communities for many years, which developed immunities to diseases such as smallpox, malaria, and diphtheria among their people.

The Impact of Diseases on Native Americans

When the Europeans arrived in the Americas, they brought along numerous diseases, which soon began to spread rapidly. The Native Americans’ immune systems had never encountered these diseases before, leading to the deaths of many indigenous people. Approximately fifty percent of the Native population was affected, and out of these, ninety percent succumbed to the diseases, resulting in a significant population decrease in the Americas (Diamond, 1997). The Europeans were unaware of the diseases they carried because they were immune to them. This was not a deliberate act of genocide but rather a tragic consequence of the Europeans coming into contact with the Natives (Crosby, 1972).

The Inca Empire and the Spread of Smallpox

In the ancient civilization of Peru, known as the Inca Empire, there was a king named Huayna Capac. The Incas built a strong army around their empire, which was so vast that it encompassed Peru, Bolivia, modern Ecuador, and the northern half of what is now Chile. This immense empire extended 2,000 miles down the Western Coast of South America, boasting a very large population. The Inca Empire was well-known for its powerful army during war.

The Europeans came to the New World through the voyages of Christopher Columbus, conquering many places. One of their most powerful tools in these conquests was the diseases they carried. As they arrived in the New World, reaching the Inca Empire, one of the diseases they spread was smallpox. Smallpox was first identified in Mexico and eventually spread all the way down to the Inca Empire. At the time, diseases were neither curable nor preventable. Although the Incan Empire was powerful, their immune system could not combat this devastating disease. This led to a decline in the Inca Empire and the death of their ruler, Huayna Capac. The Inca Empire was left without a ruler or a successor, leading to a civil war among the Incas (Mann, 2005).

Consequences of the Civil War and the Spanish Conquest

After the civil war, the Inca Empire was split in two and was no longer unified, which made it easy for the Spanish to conquer the empire. Smallpox devastated the Incas and their empire, leading to the death of their ruler and eventually the conquest of their lands. The Incas suffered greatly because of this disease, smallpox, which not only weakened their society but also facilitated the Spanish conquest (Restall, 2003).

References:

• Crosby, A. W. (1972). The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Greenwood Press.
• Diamond, J. (1997). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Mann, C. C. (2005). 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Knopf.
• Restall, M. (2003). Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. Oxford University Press.