[m1911]

I thought smallpox was a large factor in the near-extinction of the Native Americans? I admit I haven't kept up with the latest research, but I do remember learning that.

[Shermy]

Yes, and other diseases. The idea is that they had been so isolated from Asia/Africa/Europe, whom shared diseases and various resitances, that when confronted with the diseases, they spread like wild fire. Good book on the subject "Guns, Germs and Steel."

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

The so-called near-extinction of Amerindians due to European disease is somewhat mythological. While there are known cases where tribes were either annihilated or decimated by smallpox (a prime factor in the defeat of the Aztecs was their inability to follow up their victory in the defeat of the Spaniards due to a smallpox epidemic sweeping their city), the disease factor was generally not even close to being a decisive factor amongst the greater part of the native population. And if disease was such a factor, then why didn't native diseases wipe out the Europeans?