US Politics on Sidechat | Native American tribes and confederacies were extremely complex civilizations and if not for disease susceptibility would likely have never been colonized by Europeans.

Sidechat

Download

Join communities on Sidechat Download

US Politics 12w

Native American tribes and confederacies were extremely complex civilizations and if not for disease susceptibility would likely have never been colonized by Europeans.

Anonymous 12w

European colonization would have still occurred. It just would have been more restricted and slower, particularly in the Andes and Mexico, where their armies and governments were destabilized by the first wave of smallpox right when the Spanish arrived.

Anonymous

#1 12w

Some things would have gone differently. Perhaps the English would never have taken hold initially in Virginia and Massachusetts if the native confederacies were not weakened. Perhaps the Spanish would have failed in Latin America entirely. But I think the French, Dutch, and Swedish would have still set up their fur trade excursions in the northeast. And the initial English exploration of America was driven by cod fish, not conquest.

Anonymous

#1 12w

What I think would be particularly fascinating would be what state the Mississippians would be in without disease hitting their societies following the de Soto Expedition.

Anonymous

#1 12w

I live near Cahokia the Mississippians would have been insane if they rose again after Cahokia collapsed

Anonymous

#1 12w

Maybe parts of North America would look like India today after colonization. Footholds of European powers and their influence like Christianity and local cuisine changed.

Anonymous

OP 12w

Yeah I feel like looking at how Europeans interacted with India and especially with how Portugal interacted with Africa in the early days

Anonymous

#1 12w

A lot of trading posts, fortified cities, and similar footholds, but lessened ability to penetrate deep into the country. Spain could initially take control of some Caribbean islands but have their direct conquest of the mainland halted. The Portuguese and other powers could set up ports along South American rivers to serve as export hubs for inland goods.

Anonymous

#1 12w

Meanwhile the British, French, Dutch, and Swedish could still set up their fur trade enterprises in the northeast. These areas would be more easy to gain a permanent military foothold than Latin America, but without gold or silver there’s less of a reason to attempt that.