The Age Of Exploration Essay

The Age of Exploration was a period of time in which European countries competed for the best land and for the new materials and resources that were being found over in the New World. The New World was being explored for three basic reasons: economics, religion, and the desire to be glorified. When explorers would embark on their journey to the Western Hemisphere, they would bring goods over that were to be traded. These goods could be things such as livestock, wheat, or various other items. The explorers and their crew did not plan on bringing invisible killers with them. It has been said that when the foreigners came over that, “It was a culture clash, obviously,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “But it also launched a clash of …show more content…
“Smallpox is believed to have arrived in the Americas in 1520 on a Spanish ship sailing from Cuba, carried by an infected African slave” (Diamond). Smallpox was spread from the Europeans over to the native populations of the New World. The disease was transmitted by coughing, sneezing, and also by tactile infection. The Europeans, however, had built up immunity against Smallpox. The Europeans lived in close contact with their livestock and the germs the livestock carried. Eventually the diseases that the animals had evolved into diseases that the Europeans could succumb to. The Europeans then began developing antibodies and mutating genetically, therefore they eventually became immune to Smallpox. Smallpox was the first epidemic to occur in the New World, the natives were not immune to it because they only raised llamas and had not been exposed to the deadly germs that evolved into Smallpox like the Europeans had. The symptoms of Smallpox usually showed up between twelve to fourteen days after the individual was infected. “The symptoms of Smallpox resemble the symptoms of the modern day flu: fever, overall discomfort, headache, severe fatigue, severe back pain, and nausea. A few days later, flat, red spots appear first on your face, hands and forearms, and later on your trunk. Within a day or two, many of these lesions turn into small blisters filled with clear fluid, which then turns …show more content…
Like Smallpox, the people of Europe had become immune to Measles as well. Measles and Smallpox both cause red rashes that can be found all over the infected individual’s body. Measles is a disease that attacks the respiratory system and is also highly contagious. Almost 90 percent of the population who had contact with an individual that had Measles, contracted it themselves. “Pertussis, also known as Whooping Cough, started off in pigs and dogs, and eventually transferring to humans” (Glassberg). Pertussis, like Measles, is a respiratory infection that is highly contagious. Influenza, like Measles and Smallpox, is a respiratory disease/infection. All of these diseases were highly contagious and were being caught by the natives and diminishing their populations. The conditions that the natives lived in were perfect for the diseases to spread rapidly and deadly. The natives lived in very close quarters with each other, and when the Europeans and their disease came over, this proved to be ideal for the diseases. The Europeans spread the diseases that were native to Europe and also brought over the enslaved Africans; the enslaved Africans brought over the diseases native to Africa. The enslaved Africans brought over yellow fever, malaria, and dengue (break-bone fever). These diseases thrived in the Caribbean and other places where the