Plausibility Check: The Columbian Plague

We all know that upon the arrival of Europeans smallpox and other very deadly diseases spread with great speed throughout the Native American populations. According to some sources, the pre-Columbian population of natives in the Americans varies between 25 and 125 million, and within a century of Europe's arrival, the population had dropped 90%. I'm not prepared to quote a source, but those numbers stick out in memory, despite the obvious discrepancy in estimates.

Now, the Americas had some nasty things in store for the Europeans, such a siphilis, but nothing on the sheer infectous mortality rate that smallpox could bring to the table.

But what if there had been?

What if Columbus or Cabot or Magellan had brought back a virulent disease to wipe out 3/4s of Europe's population within a century?

Results?
 
Possible POD: the Norse introduce some sort of livestock to North America. Five hundred years later, when Europeans arrive -- with no major PODs on that side of the Atlantic -- new diseases have transmitted to humans. Both Europe and the Americas suffer massive population losses.
 
Possible POD: the Norse introduce some sort of livestock to North America. Five hundred years later, when Europeans arrive -- with no major PODs on that side of the Atlantic -- new diseases have transmitted to humans. Both Europe and the Americas suffer massive population losses.

But then you have all the problems of convincing the locals to want to take care of the livestock, and then teaching them how to do so before the Norse just up and leave (I have taught you all that you need to know to take care of this cow, now you will never again want for meat or leather. Now, I must go, my people need me!)
 
But then you have all the problems of convincing the locals to want to take care of the livestock, and then teaching them how to do so before the Norse just up and leave (I have taught you all that you need to know to take care of this cow, now you will never again want for meat or leather. Now, I must go, my people need me!)

Yeah. They were fine with their pre-existing methods of acquiring everything typically provided by livestock.
 
We all know that upon the arrival of Europeans smallpox and other very deadly diseases spread with great speed throughout the Native American populations. According to some sources, the pre-Columbian population of natives in the Americans varies between 25 and 125 million, and within a century of Europe's arrival, the population had dropped 90%. I'm not prepared to quote a source, but those numbers stick out in memory, despite the obvious discrepancy in estimates.

Now, the Americas had some nasty things in store for the Europeans, such a siphilis, but nothing on the sheer infectous mortality rate that smallpox could bring to the table.

But what if there had been?

What if Columbus or Cabot or Magellan had brought back a virulent disease to wipe out 3/4s of Europe's population within a century?

Results?


This is quite plausible-but it would require either a much higher Native population density or more/more widespread domestic animals in the Americas.

As for the results side of your question-Europeans die off from disease, recover, and then start exploring/conquering again. Rinse, repeat, and continue until eventually Europeans have been exposed to American diseases for so long that they are immune to them. Unless natives are able to acquire military technology from Europe during this process, they will still eventually be conquered although the conquest would be much more difficult from Europe's perspective.
 
They did adopt horses pretty quickly, though

That's because there was a great deal of benefit. However, now that I think of it, there isn't much incentive for native Americans to abandon their traditional practices in favor of domestication.
 
They did adopt horses pretty quickly, though

The Plains Indians adopted horses-most of the natives of the East Coast of North America did not adopt horses or any other livestock, with the exception of some tribes like the Cherokee.
 
How about something avian based? I think chickens had already been domesticated in South America and parts of Central America prior to European contact.
 
Now, the Americas had some nasty things in store for the Europeans, such a siphilis, but nothing on the sheer infectous mortality rate that smallpox could bring to the table.

There's some debate over whether syphilis is a New World disease. Late medieval, pre-Columbian European illuminated manuscripts depict and describe chancres that are very similar to the chancres of secondary syphilis. However, you're quite right that syphilis, as a STD, is nowhere near as destructive as smallpox.
 
Dont forget that if europe gets hit by a big disease then asia to will sufer. After all there was trade by sea and land to. Imagine that China or India gets a disease with a kill rate of 90% within a century. They where and stil are the 2 most populated countrys. Humanity could lose teorethicaly a lot of people. Chaos would come and even more people would die. Still i think civilization would rebuilde. After the black plage europe rebuilt. In 200 years (1200-1400) Europe lost 1\3 of its population. There is hope yet.
 
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