Posted by Ian M on January 13, 2021, 10:48 am, in reply to "Re: Yes and yes"
Ok, glad to hear! I wondered afterwards if it might have been a generalised 'you', as in 'if one believed'.
@Keith, thanks for that. So it doesn't seem that part of the historical narrative is under question in S.America at least, though not absolving the conquistadors by any means as Dan points out. I wonder if there was a correlation between the extent of 'development' and the spread of the new diseases? I imagine that denser population hubs, increased trade and the ill-health that comes with relying only on a few domesticated crops would have provided better conditions for the spread of epidemic disease than comparatively isolated, healthier nomadic bands. (Though as Mann also points out much of N.America was already under corn-based civilisations at the time too.) Speculation really...