Studies show that "tuberculosis, other infections diseases, as well as alcoholism, decimated the Indian and contributed to the breakdown of both their physical stamina and their morale" (Dubos 189). Thus, the Native American tribes were demoralized by relocation to reservations, but also by their inability to fight off the white man's diseases. They decimated the population, and left behind a more resilient but less motivated population. Losing one's home is bad enough, but losing loved one's to the white man's diseases is even more difficult to bear. It is easy to see why so many Native American tribes have eventually disappeared or degenerated. Disease was a compelling factor in the fall of the Native American tribes, and the white man contributed to the fall in many, many ways. It is clear that tuberculosis and history are intertwined, and that many historical events in America could have taken a different turn had it not been for tuberculosis and the after effects of the disease. The Native American population might have been much larger today had it not been for tuberculosis, and they might have had a greater say in many aspects of American life, from politics to the natural world. Native Americans had a simpler lifestyle that relied more on the natural world and their environment. Had more survived the devastating illnesses, more settlers might have had a better understanding of the natural...
The disease killed thousands, even millions of Native Americans because they had no resistance to the disease, and because it was not understood medically. If tuberculosis had not made its' deadly appearance, things might have been far different for the new settlers. There may have been more Native Americans to resist settlement and westward migration, and there certainly would be more of a Native American presence in America today. This disease helped decimate the Native American populations on the continent, and helped contribute to a general population increase in nearly all the American tribes. In addition, the disease often affected children and young people the hardest, so there was no generation to continue the bloodlines of many tribes. Tuberculosis is a sad legacy for the white man, and a sadder one for the Native American tribes of North America.
References
Dubos, Rene. Miracle of Health: Utopias, Progress, and Biological Change. New York: Doubleday, 1959.
Hrdlicka, Ales. Tuberculosis among Certain Indian Tribes of the United States. Washington, DC: Govt. Print. Off., 1909.
Trafzer, Clifford E. Death Stalks the Yakama: Epidemiological Transitions…
