1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

As a result of the new populations of Europeans in the Americas, the natural landscape, as well as existing farming practices of Indigenous peoples, changed drastically. John Rolfe brought earthworms to the New World, a species that did not previously exist on the continent. Rolfe found that tobacco from the Caribbean could be grown in North America, and Europeans developed a tobacco culture centering on and supplied by Virginia tobacco. Colonists brought worms to their gardens which, in turn, meant that American forests lost much of their undergrowth and entire plant species died off. Colonists also brought livestock with them from Europe and quickly lost control of the animals. Pigs ravaged the countryside and destroyed indigenous crops. The European honeybee spread quickly, facilitating the thriving of European plants.

Mann describes the way history books about the Americas differs from reality. These textbooks depict the so-called New World as largely undeveloped—a vast and wild land. However, the truth is that English ships landed right in the middle of a rapidly developing and highly civilized Indian society called Tsenacomoco. Led by Powhatan, Tsenacomoco residents understood the land and how to best grow crops in the area. European settlers continued to arrive and suffer from starvation or disease; without Powhatan’s assistance, European colonists would not have survived.

Many remember the story of Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas and her romantic relationship with John Smith and, later, John Rolfe. Mann explains that the stories about John Smith are largely exaggerated and based more in myth than fact. However, John Smith understood that English survival was dependent upon the colonists’ relationship with the people of Tsenacomoco. Jamestown was established because of the joint-stock company known as the Virginia Company. Smith negotiated with Powhatan for food. When Smith returned to Europe for medical treatment, the relationship between Powhatan and the colonists deteriorated, and the English attacked Powhatan’s people. Powhatan retaliated and refused to supply colonists with food.

As a result, each new shipment of colonists succumbed to disease and starvation. Mann poses the question: Why didn’t the Virginia Company just give up? The answer: the popularity of tobacco. While this plant changed the natural landscape, it also resulted in the deaths of many Indigenous people and colonists. Colonists eventually brought enslaved African people to the Americas to grow tobacco.

While Powhatan’s brother Opechancanough was successful in defeating the Virginia Company, English colonists continued to arrive.

One of the greatest threats to colonists and Indigenous people was disease. Mann explores the history of malaria and its cultural and ecological impact. It is widely accepted that Cristóbal Colón and other Spanish travelers brought malaria with them to the Americas. The disease spread across the continent and eradicated vast numbers of Indigenous people and European colonists. The Columbian Exchange also brought the illness referred to as Yellow Fever, nicknamed “Yellow Jack.”

The import of these diseases altered the course of history. Mann asserts that those areas of the Americas where European colonists contracted malaria and died continue to be much poorer today. As tobacco traveled from the Caribbean to Virginia, mosquitoes infected with malaria hitched a ride. Europeans did not yet understand what malaria was or how it thrived because of European farming practices.

Mann suggests that the disease is also partly responsible for the introduction of slavery in the Americas. Indentured servants were a popular choice among colonists for many years. In payment for a trip to the New World, indentured servants worked for five to seven years to pay off their debt. When their contract was fulfilled, they were able to stake their own farms and work freely. This meant that employers lost workers who left to buy their own land. Furthermore, malaria meant that many of the European servants died in both Virginia and Carolina. Many people in West and Central Africa were immune to malaria, and colonists found that African enslaved peoples died less often than European indentured servants. Although Mann asserts that malaria immunity was not the sole cause of American slavery, it was a contributing factor.