P1-6c

The reasons for the Indians’ vulnerability to European diseases are not clear, but the evidence points to certain features in their immunological makeup. Having lived for millennia in relatively disease-free environments, the Indians, unlike the Europeans, may not have been genetically selected to resist infectious diseases.

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/29/science/don-t-blame-columbus-for-all-the-indians-ills.html



P1-8

By the middle of the 18th century, Europeans who thought seriously about the discovery of America and its global implications generally agreed that the whole process had been a moral outrage, possibly the worst in history. 

The devastation that European microbes inflicted upon the Indian population is the greatest tragedy in the history of humankind.

European plants also thrived at the expense of native vegetation. 
...
European animals also prevailed over potential American rivals.



P1-9

Americans like to believe that their history is a story of progress. They are right about its European phase. After its tragic beginnings in conquest, depopulation, and enslavement, some things finally did improve.


A few individuals gained much from these new connections... Nearly everybody else suffered, millions horribly, especially in the Americas and Africa.