User:Jmucks/Influx of disease in the Caribbean

European contact
Before European contact, the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean are thought to have lived with infrequent epidemic diseases, brought about by limited contact between tribes. (2) This left them socially and biologically unprepared when Christopher Columbus and his crew introduced several infectious diseases, including smallpox, whopping cough, and measles. (2) When the European diseases began to spread from the carriers to the indigenous population, there was no natural immunity to protect the indigenous people, leading to more serious cases and higher mortality.(1) There was also no system in place to care for the sick as the society was not used to the diseases as European nations were at the time.(3)

Among the most notable of diseases in the Columbian exchange is Smallpox, which first broke out in the Americas on the island of Hispaniola shortly after Columbus's first voyage. (1)The disease was carried by Christopher Columbus and his crew from Europe, where it had been endemic for over seven hundred years. (1) Like the other diseases introduced in the time period, the Europeans were familiar with the treatment of the disease and had some natural immunity, which reduced mortality and facilitated quicker recovery. (1) The Taino people, who inhabited Hispanola, had no natural smallpox immunity and were generally unfamiliar with treating epidemic disease. (1) The Taino population before European contact is estimated to have been between 60,000 to 8 million people, and the entire nation was virtually extinct 50 years after contact. (2)

Because the indigenous societies, including the Taino, were unfamiliar with the diseases, they were not prepared to deal with the social consequences. The high number of people incapacitated by the disease disrupted the normal cycles of agriculture and hunting that sustained the native population. (3) This led to increased dependence on the Europeans, and reduced capacity to resist the invasion. (3) The eventual enslavement by the Europeans compounded the effects of the epidemics, though the loss in population has primarily been attributed to the disease.(2)

Transatlantic slave trade
As the population of enslaved indigenous peoples fell due to disease and abuse, the Spanish began to import enslaved people from Africa in 1505. (Loewen) Because there was already an established European colonial presence in Africa at the time, the slaves were less vulnerable to disease than the Taino people on Hispanola. (6) However, they came carrying their own diseases, including malaria. (4) At the time, malaria was endemic in both Europe and Africa, though more prevalent in Africa. (4) The climate of the Caribbean was hospitable to mosquitoes of the genus anopheles, which acts as a host for the disease, allowing it to spread. (5) Many of the African-born enslaved people had genetic protections against malaria that the indigenous enslaved people did not. (6) As malaria, smallpox and other diseases spread the indigenous population continued to fall, increasing the motivation for the Spanish to continue to bring in more enslaved people to work in mining and agriculture, driving the development of triangular trade. (6)

(Citations refer to ref works bibliography, will be added in actual article, 517 words)