Pox America Book Review

Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.

Funded by the Spanish, an explorer named Christopher Columbus set sail westwards in 1492 in search of a faster trading route to the Asias, but instead what Columbus found was a land separated from Europe for millions of years, North America. Columbus’s discovery of North America had many profound effects on the world, one of the greatest being the founding of the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange was a form of commerce between North America and Western Europe. The establishment of Columbian Exchange held both positive and negative repercussions, one positive repercussions being agricultural growth due to all the newly discovered crops and flora and one negative repercussion being the introduction of European diseases to the New world that resulted in the death of approximately70 million North American natives.

It’s the Pre-Columbian era and Native Americans don’t have a thought of Columbus’s arrival. Before 1492, the Americas was occupied with tribal societies who took part in trade, battle, and sacrificial offerings to their gods. “In a tribal society, members usually took on gender roles. For example, the males would hunt for food while the females would prepare the meal. Duties of both genders were unique to the success of their community. Without the touch of European hands Natives were living life as they’ve been since their unknown arrival in the Americas.”(Encyclopedia of the Great Plains)

One of the biggest summer nuisance would be the mosquito, but more specifically the Ades aegypti mosquito. The Aedes aegypti is the vector for yellow fever and the cause of the numerous deaths. In her book The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic the Shaped Our History, Molly Caldwell Crosby presents the idea that the mosquito is not just the only reason an epidemic occurred in the 18th century. This story accounts for the disease that broke out across the world and nearly destroyed almost all of North America’s population, which some believe could have been avoided by simple quarantine analysis and sanitary methods.

Among the many things spread and shared in the Columbian Exchange, the trading of diseases is perhaps the most significant. The natives of the Americas had never experienced the serious diseases that European explorers carried over to the New World. From smallpox to influenza and malaria to cholera, Native American populations were drastically decreased due to their poor immunity. Between the numerous amounts of European diseases, though, measles was the most remarkable in that its effects were both widespread and enduring.

Around the time of three-hundred CE, the amount of power started to decrease for Rome, Italy. Lots of the Roman emperors and people were killed at this dreadful time. But what really caused this sudden downfall? Will we ever really know? I think the three main reasons are: Natural disasters, foreign invasions, and the city’s military problems.

“Plague in Central America,” by Arana Xajila, in the years of 1519-1560 talks about a deadly plague that derives from Europe to Mesoamerica (Central America) and spreads throughout Central America. This plague had spread to the people of Central America when their tribe, Cakchiquels, were fighting against the Spaniards. The Spaniards that were fighting in the tribe had passed on this deadly plague to the Cakchiquels tribe who then passed it on to others in Central America. This plague can be known as the influenza (flu). This deadly virus was spreading rapidly and soon everyone in Central America were affected. This deadly disease that spread from Europe to Central America had caused people much suffering and ultimately was the cause of their

How has the Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic of 1793 change history? An appalling contagious outbreak impacted the colossal city of America and its country’s capital. In the summer of 1793 the weather was brutally humid and mild. Therefore, this infectious disease has initiated in August and is known to be terminated approximately few months later in November. This disease has commenced by mosquitoes and caused a massive amount of deaths. Not only has this epidemic dispatched numerous people it made them suffer to the point where it was unbearable to handle.

In Philip J. Deloria’s book, Indians In Unexpected Places readers are provoked with questions. Why is there an Indian on an automobile? Why is she getting a manicure? Why is the young man in football apparel? Indians have been secluded into a stereotype of untamable and wild animals. However, Indians break the barriers of their traditional lives by being in more modern and “white” activities. They partake in “normal” activities to not only change their future, but to make their ancestors proud of their accomplishments. Through a variety of events in the early 1900’s, Deloria expands on what it means to be Native American by retelling their lives of, men grew from their reservation life, into competitive sports, the auto industry transformed how Native Americans traveled, and they also gained relevance in the fight to make themselves known in film, not always as a savage warrior, but also capable of love moving pictures.

In 1492 a man named Christopher Columbus was given the opportunity to find a new way to the kingdom of spice, India. He was given three boats by the Spanish king to sail west instead of east to get to India. Once he arrived although he thought he was in India he had actually arrived in the Caribbean. After this discovery of a new world to the west, many European countries set out to conquer this new land. This new world was inhabited by natives, and once the natives met the Europeans it was downhill. The Europeans conquered almost all of the land destroying empires and decimating populations, and destroying cultures. Once Columbus had arrived the natives barely clung on to survival. Because of the arrival of Columbus and this trade between

Christopher Columbus, a sailor who served King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the rulers of Spain, took off on a journey to find Asia. However, by mistake, he actually sailed the great seas and “discovered” an island of Hispaniola, America. This feat created a gateway for other races to colonise and live in the newly “discovered” land. In reality though, the land had already been explored by and inhabited by the Tainos people, a peaceful tribe that never believed in private property. A tribe that was very giving and inviting, they “exhibited great love towards all others in preference to themselves”. Columbus and his men, when they “discovered” the already used land, slaughtered natives, playing cruel games with them as if they were wild beasts.

Settling in Charles Town wasn’t an easy task, the Europeans had taught us that when they first settled in Charles Town. In 1521, Francisco Gordillo became the first Europeans to explore the Carolina coast. While Gordillo did not attempt to settle, he angered many Natives by selling them into slavery. Five years later, Lucas Vasquez attempt to established a settlement, but was not successful. Many more explorers had failed to settle the land. Four ways that made Charles Town difficult to settle were; the geography, resources, and wildlife.

William Penn founded Pennsylvania in March of 1681 for two main reasons. The first was to make money, and the other reason was to provide the Quakers with a safe haven in America. Pennsylvania was obviously named after the founder, William Penn it means "Penn 's Woods." Some of the hardships the colony had to overcome would be traveling, money, and the native Americans.

In the book, Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 by Elizabeth Fenn (2001), depicts the casualty of one of the deadliest virus in mankind -- the smallpox during the American War of Independence and how it shaped the course of the war and the lives of everyone in the North America. Smallpox is a highly contagious disease caused by an Orthopoxvirus known as variola major virus. Spread by direct transmission, the disease produces high fever, headache, excruciating back pain, anxiety, general malaise, blindness at times, and the most distinctive of all, blistering rashes that can leave deep-pitted scars. Its spread could be attributed through human civilizations, voyaging, expansion of trade routes. The European colonizers brought

Good morning/afternoon everybody, today I have been assigned with informing you all about the Aztecs, or more importantly, the reason for their annihilation. Now you may be thinking that it was mainly to do with a war, but it is actually almost solely a disease called the variola disease or as it’s more commonly known, small-pox