what if the native Americans sailed over to Africa

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For what it's worth, I could buy an ATL where Native American seafaring (Caribbean peoples, naturally) develop to the point they can cross--and have some idea how to get home. They absolutely would not need to be magically gifted with an empty Old World ship and even more mysteriously, the knowledge how to operate and navigate it. I can believe in Native Americans figuring that part out themselves, maybe with a little help from lingering and transmitted and elaborated knowledge from Polynesians. (In that case, it has to go up South American coast, then synergize with Caribbean developments).

And actually, in the Columbian Exchange, Old World agriculture was greatly enriched with New World crops. The likelihood that New World peoples would develop storable foodstuffs that would serve them well on long ocean voyages is pretty high, given the many crops they had, and stuff like pemmican. They have a leg up on the Old World in that respect!

However, once contact is made, the liability they are under regarding infectious diseases is just far too great for them to be conquerors. At best, it means they get centuries to negotiate better terms of contact and perhaps get somewhat prepared for the full impact of those diseases.

We'd have to come up with some plausible way for Caribbean sailors to be good enough to make west-east-and back again transAtlantic trips a long long time before the Europeans are ready in the 15th century. Say first contact voyages way back in the 8th century CE or earlier. Their boats are better, but Eur-Af-Asians have way too many diseases to let them outright conquer anywhere but the uninhabited Atlantic islands.

Maybe if we finesse it right, enough nasty diseases get unleashed on the Americas over centuries before Europeans are up to coming over themselves, that the recovering Native civs can stand up to them more easily, especially if they can steal some knowledge of metallurgy. If the early American pioneer voyages pick up some horses or donkeys or something like that, then the New World is a tougher nut for the Europeans. Also perhaps the Amazonian civilizations survive exposure to Conquistador diseases and we have yet another civ complex to confront the Europeans, on terrain that Europeans do badly on.

But we need a POD for Caribbean peoples to develop a whole big suite of things, including storable food.

There is no need whatsoever for them to be gifted with Old Word ships though. If we can explain why and how very early Caribbean peoples get way more venturesome with ships, they can probably even reinvent anything they need the Polynesians might have had to offer.

As the OP stands it is wrong on too many levels to consider.
 
Those numbers were probably for just a battle, they assembled and left immediately afterwards. Probably mostly not professionals.


What I find weird is that if the Europeans had so many problems with tropical diseases, how will Amerindians even fight there?
Is smallpox native from there or would they "just" get mosquito spread stuff?
 
Is smallpox native from there or would they "just" get mosquito spread stuff?
Smallpox is not native to Africa, but it also not unknown among Africans who have contact with European nations on regular basis. Smallpox was actually introduced to North America through an African in the Spanish employ (he also built the first chuch in Mexico coincidentally). And to a response further up- Native Americans can not rebound from earlier contact European diseases and fight off later colonization. There is not enough time unless you make it THOUSANDS of years and emphasis on the S.
 
Smallpox is not native to Africa, but it also not unknown among Africans who have contact with European nations on regular basis. Smallpox was actually introduced to North America through an African in the Spanish employ (he also built the first chuch in Mexico coincidentally). And to a response further up- Native Americans can not rebound from earlier contact European diseases and fight off later colonization. There is not enough time unless you make it THOUSANDS of years and emphasis on the S.
Wasn't asking because of rebound but to see if they would be impacted then.

If it's known to Africa through European contact, then nothing before 1360. Our flying Americans would probably be ok if they stick to the coast, no?
 
Small pox actually originated (at least first documented) in history as being in Egypt. It is known in North Africa and spread through Arab conquest and Muslim trading and I believe as far south as Nigeria pretty early on. Im not sure about Congo and south of there.
 
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