Epidemics_and_Enslavement_Chapter_2

Protohistoric period

The time between Columbus’s first voyage and the arrival of English colonialism in the mid-seventeenth century.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of agricultural products, diseases, and cultures between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

Epidemiology

The study of how disease spreads and affects populations.

Virgin-soil epidemic

An outbreak of disease in a population that has never been exposed to that disease before, resulting in high mortality rates.

Malaria

A disease caused by a plasmodium parasite, typically spread by mosquitoes, which became endemic in the Southeast.

Spanish mission system

A network of religious missions established by the Spanish in the Americas to convert indigenous peoples to Christianity.

Indigenous peoples

The original inhabitants of a region, particularly before European colonization.

Demographic changes

Shifts in the population size, distribution, and composition of a community.

John Archdale

Governor of South Carolina who remarked on the impacts of diseases like smallpox on Native populations.

Hernando de Soto

A Spanish explorer whose expedition through the southeastern United States had significant interactions with Native populations.

European colonialism

The practice of European nations establishing control over foreign territories exploiting local resources and populations.

Population collapse

A dramatic and rapid decrease in the population of a community.

Smallpox

A highly contagious and deadly disease that was part of the Columbian Exchange, noted for devastating indigenous populations.

Cofitachequi

A Native town visited by Hernando de Soto that was reported to have suffered from a significant loss of population.

Slave raiding

The practice of capturing individuals to enslave them, notably impacting Native populations in the Southeast.

Typhus

A disease often associated with overcrowded conditions, spread by lice, which likely affected populations during early European contact.

Flu outbreaks

Epidemics of influenza, which are common communicable diseases that can spread rapidly through contacts.