Pearl Harbor

Treatment of a Indian chief by a pre-colonial doctor.

Click to see an enlarged version of this artwork.

Unknown artist's impression of smallpox epidemic amongst Massachusetts Native Americans.

Visit the New World.

When smallpox was unleased on the the Cree Indians in the eighteenth century one native watching the destruction of his people said, "we had no belief that one man could give it to another, any more than a wounded man could give his wound to another." This was caused by the fact that the people of the New World had been isolated from the rest of Europe and the Far East and had not developed any kind of immunity to the major plagues that had ravished the rest of the known world. Not only smallpox, but measles, malaria and yellow fever. This was but one of the many aspects of what has become know as the Columbian Exchange that took place after the discovery of the new world.

No other time in history has the world been changed so dramatically. Great empires destroyed in matters of years. Not only destroyed but wiped out, with no culture remaining, no identity left to those who survived. The great Inca Empire in Peru, the Aztecs in Mexico, with all their knowledge and grandeur ceased to exist as a people and a culture. We in America have always heralded the discovery of this continent to be a great achievement. If we look a little deeper we can come to the conclusion that this may be the single greatest tragedy that has affected the world to date.

The population of what would become Hispanola has been estimated at eight million people in 1492. By 1535 the native population for all practical purposes failed to exist. In forty two years the Spanish had destroyed the native population. In one lifetime, the entire population with thousands of years of existence, failed to exist. No destruction placed on one people has produced more dramatic results in history. Pre-Columbian Central population in the great valley of Mexico has been estimated at 25,000,000 or about seven times the number of people living in England at the time. This doesn't include the number of people living north or south of Mexico. By 1595 one hundred years after the discovery the population of Central Mexico had been reduced to 1,300,000 people, a decline of 95%. This pattern was repeated wherever the Spanish traveled in South and Central America.

The great empire of the Inca's in Peru was destroyed. An empire with a capital city of Cuzco, with a population before Columbus between 125,000 and 200, 000 people. Larger than any city of Europe at the time. All their knowledge taken with them. What secrets did they hold that we are still searching for 500 years after their destruction? What secrets did the Aztecs hold that we would have found useful? It is rumored that they had the cure for the most annoying disease that faces man today- the common cold.

Not only does the tragedy exist in the New World, but also in the Old World. The introduction of syphilis can be traced to the return of Columbus from the New World. This disease would strike at the whole population of the rest of the world. It would cause world wide suffering and death. Guy de Maupassant and Frederick Nietzsche both perished from this disease. We don't know how many people it inflicted over the course of centuries, but numerous deaths have been attributed to its initial outbreak in Europe and the later in the East Indies.

No other tragedy in human history has held as much consequence as the discovery of the Americas. In no other time in history have so many people perished so fast. Great cultures were destroyed that hold many of the secrets that we are still looking for. Perhaps the tragedy that strikes us most is one that tells us something about ourselves. Mankind's penchant for utter destruction for no other cause than they were different than we were. They didn't believe as we did, they didn't pray to the same god. All the people that died and all the knowledge that was lost because they didn't look or believe in what we did. This is truly the greatest tragedy known to mankind.

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Boise State University

Treatment of a Indian chief by a pre-colonial doctor. Click to see an enlarged version of this artwork. Unknown artist's impression of smallpox epidemic amongst Massachusetts Native Americans.	Visit the New World. When smallpox was unleased on the the Cree Indians in the eighteenth century one native watching the destruction of his people said, "we had no belief that one man could give it to another, any more than a wounded man could give his wound to another." This was caused by the fact that the people of the New World had been isolated from the rest of Europe and the Far East and had not developed any kind of immunity to the major plagues that had ravished the rest of the known world. Not only smallpox, but measles, malaria and yellow fever. This was but one of the many aspects of what has become know as the Columbian Exchange that took place after the discovery of the new world. No other time in history has the world been changed so dramatically. Great empires destroyed in matters of years. Not only destroyed but wiped out, with no culture remaining, no identity left to those who survived. The great Inca Empire in Peru, the Aztecs in Mexico, with all their knowledge and grandeur ceased to exist as a people and a culture. We in America have always heralded the discovery of this continent to be a great achievement. If we look a little deeper we can come to the conclusion that this may be the single greatest tragedy that has affected the world to date. The population of what would become Hispanola has been estimated at eight million people in 1492. By 1535 the native population for all practical purposes failed to exist. In forty two years the Spanish had destroyed the native population. In one lifetime, the entire population with thousands of years of existence, failed to exist. No destruction placed on one people has produced more dramatic results in history. Pre-Columbian Central population in the great valley of Mexico has been estimated at 25,000,000 or about seven times the number of people living in England at the time. This doesn't include the number of people living north or south of Mexico. By 1595 one hundred years after the discovery the population of Central Mexico had been reduced to 1,300,000 people, a decline of 95%. This pattern was repeated wherever the Spanish traveled in South and Central America. The great empire of the Inca's in Peru was destroyed. An empire with a capital city of Cuzco, with a population before Columbus between 125,000 and 200, 000 people. Larger than any city of Europe at the time. All their knowledge taken with them. What secrets did they hold that we are still searching for 500 years after their destruction? What secrets did the Aztecs hold that we would have found useful? It is rumored that they had the cure for the most annoying disease that faces man today- the common cold. Not only does the tragedy exist in the New World, but also in the Old World. The introduction of syphilis can be traced to the return of Columbus from the New World. This disease would strike at the whole population of the rest of the world. It would cause world wide suffering and death. Guy de Maupassant and Frederick Nietzsche both perished from this disease. We don't know how many people it inflicted over the course of centuries, but numerous deaths have been attributed to its initial outbreak in Europe and the later in the East Indies. No other tragedy in human history has held as much consequence as the discovery of the Americas. In no other time in history have so many people perished so fast. Great cultures were destroyed that hold many of the secrets that we are still looking for. Perhaps the tragedy that strikes us most is one that tells us something about ourselves. Mankind's penchant for utter destruction for no other cause than they were different than we were. They didn't believe as we did, they didn't pray to the same god. All the people that died and all the knowledge that was lost because they didn't look or believe in what we did. This is truly the greatest tragedy known to mankind.