[lit-ideas] Re: How the Old World Conquered the New via infectious diseases
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 11 May 2014 14:47:18 +0200
*As they say, behind every successful man there is a strong woman, although
in this case 'in front' might be more appropriate:*
*La Malinche* (Spanish pronunciation: [la
maˈlintʃe]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Spanish>;
c. 1496 or c. 1501 – c. 1529), known also as *Malinalli*
[maliˈnalːi]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Nahuatl>
, *Malintzin*[maˈlintsin]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Nahuatl>
or *Doña Marina* [ˈdoɲa
maˈɾina]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Nahuatl>,
was a Nahua <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahua_peoples>woman from the
Mexican Gulf Coast <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico>, who
played a role in theSpanish conquest of
Mexico<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_Mexico>,
acting as an interpreter, advisor, lover, and intermediary for Hernán
Cortés<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s>.
She was one of twenty women slaves given to the Spaniards by the natives of
Tabasco in 1519.[1]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche#cite_note-1> Later,
she became a mistress <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistress_(lover)> to
Cortés and gave birth to his first son,
Martín<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mart%C3%ADn_Cort%C3%A9s_(son_of_do%C3%B1a_Marina)>,
who is considered one of the first
Mestizos<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestizos> (people
of mixed European
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_ethnic_groups> and indigenous
American <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_American> ancestry).
The historical figure of Marina has been intermixed with Aztec legends
(such as La Llorona <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona>, a woman who
weeps for lost
children).[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche#cite_note-2>
Her
reputation has been altered over the years according to changing social and
political perspectives, especially after the Mexican Revolution, when she
was portrayed in dramas, novels, and paintings as an evil or scheming
temptress.[3] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche#cite_note-3> In
Mexico today, La Malinche remains iconically potent. She is understood in
various and often conflicting aspects, as the embodiment of treachery, the
quintessential victim, or simply as symbolic mother of the new Mexican
people. The term *malinchista
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinchista>* refers
to a disloyal countryperson, especially in Mexico.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche
On Sun, May 11, 2014 at 1:13 AM, Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Well, it is part of the explanation. The Northern AMerica might have been
> relatively scarcely populated. The diseases played a part in that, but so
> did the destruction of buffaloes, the introduction of alcohol, forced
> migrations, and outright killing.
>
> The case of the conquest of the Astecs is somewhat different, and involves
> Cortez's remarkable ability to use the subjugated, vassal or neighbouring
> peoples against the ruling Astecs. The army that Cortez eventually led
> against the Astecs did not number a few hundred but about a hundred
> thousand, largely composed of locals.
>
> O.K.
>
>
> On Sat, May 10, 2014 at 9:44 PM, Lawrence Helm <
> lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Here are a few paragraphs from Cochran and Harpending in regard to the
>> ease with which the Spanish conquered the Amerindians of America:
>>
>>
>>
>> “The Amerindians migrated from Northeast Asia some 15,000 years ago. They
>> did not carry with them crowd diseases that arose after the birth of
>> agriculture, nor did they carry the genetic defenses that later developed
>> against those diseases. Since their path to the New World went through
>> frigid landscapes like Siberia and Alaska, they left behind some of the
>> ancient infectious diseases that were vectorborne or had complex life
>> cycles—malaria and Guinea worm, for example. . .”
>>
>>
>>
>> “Although Amerindians did develop agriculture independently—a very
>> effective agriculture that included some of the world’s most important
>> crops, such as maize and potatoes—they domesticated few animals, mostly
>> because they had already wiped out most of the species suited to
>> domestication. . .”
>>
>>
>>
>> “. . . infectious disease was so unimportant among Amerindians, selection
>> most likely favored weaker immune systems, because people with weaker
>> immune systems would be better able to avoid autoimmune disorders, in which
>> the immune system misfires and attacks some organ or tissue. Type 1
>> diabetes, in which the immune system attacks the pancreatic cells that make
>> insulin, and multiple sclerosis, where it attacks the myelin sheaths of the
>> central nervous system, are well-known examples—both are rare among
>> Amerindians. A less vigorous immune system would have been an advantage
>> under those conditions.
>>
>>
>>
>> This Amerindian vulnerability was a primary reason for European success
>> in the Americas. Epidemic disease, particularly smallpox, interfered with
>> armed resistance by Amerindians and thus played an important part in the
>> early Spanish conquests. In Mexico, where Hernán Cortés and his troops had
>> made the Aztec emperor their puppet, the Aztecs rose against them, killing
>> Moctezuma II and two-thirds of the Spanish force in the famous “Noche
>> Triste.” The Aztecs probably would have utterly destroyed the invaders,
>> were it not for the smallpox epidemic under way at the same time. The
>> leader of the Aztec defense died in the epidemic, and Cortés and his men
>> conquered the Aztec Empire. It is hard to see how Cortés could have won
>> without those microscopic allies, since he was trying to conquer an empire
>> of millions with a few hundred men.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cochran, Gregory; Henry Harpending (2009-01-27). The 10,000 Year
>> Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution . . .. Basic Books.
>> Kindle Edition.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Comment: *We’ve known about the conquering of the Amerindians by the
>> Conquistadors for a great many years, but what we didn’t know until
>> scientists began working with the human genome (completed in 2003) was that
>> the Amerindians didn’t have the diversified HLA systems. In the Old World
>> with all its years of agriculture since 8,000 BC, humans were subjected to
>> a variety of diseases from animals, poor hygiene, and the close proximity
>> they were to each other in cities. Having different HLA alleles expands
>> the range of pathogens that our immune systems can deal with. Amerindians
>> didn’t have that diversity. Many tribes had only a single HLA allele.
>>
>>
>>
>> This also explains why the British had such an easy time colonizing North
>> America. The Amerindians had been decimated by disease. The New World was
>> largely empty.
>>
>>
>>
>> Lawrence
>>
>
>
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