I like the Vikings scenario, and it will still have a poignant bass note, because smallpox minor will still cause a fair number of deaths and social disruptions.
In fact, some native peoples might even call it the ‘great catastrophe,’ and only their citizens from later centuries who are fans of alternate history will truly realize just how lucky they were.
But wouldn't they be devastated by the other diseases brought over by Europeans like Measles, Flu, the Plague, etc. And wouldn't the versions of smallpox the natives were exposed to have diverged and they be devastated again by the new version from the Old World.
Yeah, no matter how I add things up, I can never quite get past the part where 'Europe was a cesspool of diseases' comes in.
Thanks! Those are very helpful!
Have literally anyone but the Iberians find the Americas, they had just finished a 700 year (off and an on) ethno-religious holy war and literally were still in crusader mentality when they found the Americas. Much of the brutality and genocide that occurred would not have happened and there would be, barring losses to disease and the civil wars and inter-tribal conflicts that occurred following western epidemics, the violence and brutality would not have been that bad. As horrible many of the Europeans were in their colonial histories what the Iberians did in the Americas is so unbelievable that priests from the church were horrified.
Hmm, this plays well with the Vikings.
It depends critically on your POD. For example, if you assume that horses and other large domesticable animals survive then they may be able to keep out the Europeans. Of course in this case Native American society would be totally different. Alternatively, if you imagine Europeans never sail west then Native American societies likely survive. Broadly, I think if you have a POD after 1492 it is hard to see anything other than plague and doom. I actually think the Iberians were no worse than any other. For example, English diseases wiped out Northern tribes (this is why the pilgrims basically were able to move into recently destroyed villages). Assuming you don't want a massive POD (e.g. horses survive) I would suggest a slightly stronger Viking settlement might be the best possibility. Introduce a few diseases and some animals and perhaps you could preserve some native culture.
Hmm, well, let's see. A massive POD would probably not work without a lot of input, so I'll try something more reasonable:
c. 1000: Erik the read and Leif Ericson find Greenland, Baffin Island (Helluland), Labrador (Markland), and Newfoundland (Vinland).
c. 1100: The settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows is thriving. Several more communities have been established further south into Quebec along the Atlantic coast. Horses, sheep, pigs, and similar animals are brought over. Trade with Natives has been established, though there are still skirmishes. {Likely the first exposure to European diseases happen here.}
c. 1142: The Haudenosaunee form a Confederacy. The settlement at L'Anse is attacked and abandoned as people flee south.
c. 1216: King Valdemar II learns of the colonies and takes great interest in them and their potential. He formally establishes rule over them and eventually the feudal system. Though trade was now firmly established with the Kingdom of Denmark, the colonists felt no particular loyalty to the realm. They did, however, establish territory in southern Quebec and northern Maine and trade relations with the Haudenosaunee.
c. 1400: Margaret I establishes more formal relations with the colonies and makes them part of her Kalmar Union.
c. 1523: The colonies break from the Kalmar Union and from the Kingdom of Denmark and form their own kingdom, largely in the area of northern Maine and southern Quebec.
At some point other European countries are going to find out about these colonies, but I'm not sure when. Similarly introducing European diseases and technologies is going to alter things.
Thoughts? Suggestions?