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Conquest: the Destruction of the American Indios

Conquest: the Destruction of the American Indios. Massimo Livi-Bacci University of Florence British Society for Population Studies University of Manchester, September 10-12, 2008. Estimates of America’s Population at Contact (million). America’s Population 1500-1800.

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Conquest: the Destruction of the American Indios

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  1. Conquest: the Destruction of the American Indios Massimo Livi-Bacci University of Florence British Society for Population Studies University of Manchester, September 10-12, 2008

  2. Estimates of America’s Population at Contact (million)

  3. America’s Population 1500-1800 • Contact: unknown number, 100% indios;in 1800=25.0, 45% indios & mestizos: • 1500-1800: “high returns” to european immigration. Stock of europeans in 1800=8.0; Net immigration: 2.3; Ratio=3.6 • 1500-1800: “negative returns” to african “immigration” (slavery): Stock of africans in 1800=5.6; net “immigration”=7.2; Ratio=0.8

  4. The Catastrophe • Population of America at contact: “high” and “low” counters (8 to 110 million); • Hispaniola: 1492=0.2/0.3 (personal estimates: “modern” estimates ranging 0,06-8.0 !!); 1518=12,000; 1550=extinction (Epid. 1518-19) • Mexico: 1519=(3.3/37.5): 1568= 3.0; 1608=1,1 (Epid: 1520-21; 1545-47; 1576-80). • Peru: 1570=1.290; 1600=0,851 (Epid: 1520s, unlikely; 1558; 1585-91

  5. Motolinia’s 10 Plagues(Mexico) • (1) Smallpox; (2) War; • (3) Famine as a consquence of war; • (4) Cruelty, greed, oppression (calpixques); • (5) Heavy tributes and services; (6) Gold; • (7) Building Mexico city; (8) Enslavement; • (9) Provisioning the mines;(10) factions among the Spaniards

  6. Origin of infectious diseases in Amazonia

  7. Smallpox: general characteristics • Crowd disease: develops in animals living in close contact: flocks, herds (virus of smallpox, measles etc); • Interaction, evolution, adaptation: virus migrates to humans; Eurasia, Africa; • But not in America: no large mammals (but bison, turkeys, llamas, dogs); little opportunities for interaction; low human density; recent settlement of humans; • Lack of immunity among Indios: everybody susceptible; • Latency: 12-14 days after infection: no symptoms; • Infectiousness: 12 day max: high fever, nausea, pains, eruptions, eventually death • Mortality of the infected: 20 to 50% according to age.

  8. Smallpox Pandemic of the 1520s

  9. Smallpox: basic model I • Interval among outbreaks: ca. 15 years; • 80% are infected; • 40% of the infected die; • No growth in the population between outbreaks; • Susceptible population after the first outbreak: 20% not infected; 60% of those infected who survived; newborn in the 15 years interval; • Population of 1000 at first outbreak reduced to 600 after 15 years and to 423 after 30 years; • Mortality rate: 40% f.o; 16% s.o.

  10. Smallpox: basic model II • Interval between outbreaks: ca. 15 years; • 70% are infected (population more dispersed; learns to escape contagion etc; • 40% of the infected die at first outbreak, but 30% at second, third… outbreaks (the sick are not abandoned etc; • Population rebounds 15% between outbreaks; • Initial population of 1000, reduced to 901 after 30 years

  11. Mines in Central America(A=Silver; O=Gold)

  12. Area of origin of Potosi’s mitayos

  13. Mines in South America

  14. Four paradigms after ConquestParadigm I: Caribbean (destruction without epidemics) • Population disappears; catastrophic decline; • High ratio Europeans/Indios; • Enslavement and dislocation;destructuring of communities; • Forced labor (gold mines); • “Appropriation” of young women (F/M=0,8); • Low fertility (Children/women ratio 0.3); • High mortality and low fertility: no rebound

  15. Hispaniola in 1514(Alburquerque’s Repartimiento: first census of America)

  16. Hispaniola’s Population at Contact(modern estimates)

  17. Caciques by number of Indios, 1514

  18. Paradigm II: Coastal lowlands, Gulf of Mexico, Peru (catastrophic) • Higher pathological density; favorable environment for diffusion of new pathologies; • Malaria & plasmodium: mortality and emigration; • Vulnerable environment (coastal valleys of Peru): appropriation of best land and water resources; • High impact of europeans (Peru); • General dislocation (Brazilian variant)

  19. Paradigm III: highlands of Mexico, Peru (rapid decline and resilience) • Lesser dislocation of society, but: • restructuring of settlements (much stronger in Peru than Mexico); • Destructive impact of wars in Peru (1520s-1540s); • Radial conformation of Mexican meseta, comb-like conformation of Peru: possible impacts on diffusion of pathologies; • Lesser impact of pathologies at high altitudes?

  20. City of Mexico and Valley of Mexico

  21. The Collapse of Mexico’s Population (according to Cook and Borah)

  22. Population of New Spain, 1570(Royal Cosmographer Lopez de Velasco)

  23. Travels of Cieza de Leon

  24. Paradigm IV: Paraguay(Expansion in spite of epidemics) • Frequent epidemics, high epidemic mortality (young age structure); • Very high fertility: Jesuits enforce early and universal marriage, high fertility; • Strong rebounds after epidemics and high population growth in the interepidemic intervals; • Preservation of Guaranì communities from dislocation, forced labor, enslavement

  25. Jesuit Missions in South America

  26. Jesuit’s 30 Missions of “Paraguay”(1750)

  27. Population of Paraguay’s 30 Missions

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