There's evidence that there was a mass plague in the 1100's, probably introduced by the Norse. The thing is, without constant exposure to those plagues, the descendents of those Indians who survived have no more immunities.
I agree with all of that. Ultimately, populist movements like Chavez' are just the same old politics as usual, just pandering to the masses instead of to the elites. Not that Venezuela's elite aren't still just as elite as they were before Chavez...
I suppose I may have gone a bit far in characterizing his accusations (though I did say "vaguely" ;)). Wouldn't you say that corruption of the sort you described in the U.S. declined as the result of more accountable government that appeared in the wake of the Progressive and Populist eras?
:rolleyes:
Or you could just read the rest of the thread as to WHY there isn't a culture of political accountability in Latin America, instead of spouting vaguely racist anecdotes about how "they're just different down there".
But what would it take for North Africa to be their focus (besides no Columbus)? What does Spain stand to gain from conquering North Africa besides the sheer bloody-minded satisfaction of conquering the Moors?
I mean in the Americas, yes. But you make a good point about Africa. Spain won't...
I think a lot of the reasons have to do with the system of colonization set in place. The U.S.A. and Canada are essentially Western European nations set in the American continent, and culturally and governmentally it shows. Their governmental system were set up as associations of English free...
Apologies for again resurrecting this thread from the dead, but I'd like to hear some more ideas about a Europe that's less involved in the New World. Would it be plausible that Spain would direct its colonial aggression against North Africa instead of the Caribbean and that the prevailing...
Weren't Portuguese voyages a closely guarded state secret at the time? It's been speculated by Gavin Menzies in 1421: The Year China Discovered the World (I know, not exactly a scholarly work) that Columbus actually had some sort of map of the New World, and that the Portuguese were to some...
I'm going to go ahead and copy my post from the other Ming America thread (https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=71395&page=4) since I think this one is more directly relevant to the topic.
Let's handwave away all the hairs that have been split earlier. The Zheng He...
Hi, long-time reader, first-time poster here. I found this thread searching for my namesake, and it's so interesting I hope no one minds me resurrecting it from the dead.
That's the crux of this whole issue, which I think everyone is ignoring. Do we even have a recognizable Europe in 1600...