Smallpox is a devastating disease that attacks people of all ages, races, cultures, and social classes. It is highly contagious and extremely deadly. In the 20th century, it killed approximately 300 million people.
Smallpox is believed to have originated around 10,000 BCE when humans began to domesticate animals for personal use. After the disease was developed, it began to infect humans from all cultures and eventually became an epidemic. The first suspected Smallpox endemic region was believed to be Egypt around the time of 1500 BCE. The evidence to date suggests that mummies had scarring on their faces from the disease, which may have caused them to meet their untimely death.
Within a few hundred years after the disease was seen in Egypt, smallpox began to appear in Asian and European countries, most likely from trade and travel. However, the Crusades played a major role in the spread of the disease. With individuals being infected and having no knowledge, they were easily able to spread it to their enemies while in close combat fighting their religious war.
In Central America, the Spanish explorers spread the disease to Amerindians and ravaged their population. The Amerindians had never been exposed to such a disease, therefore, they had no possible antibodies for it and were subject to complete effects of the disease. This allowed new explorers to quickly take over the areas because the native populations were dying off and they were doing so very quickly. Since the majority of the native populations were dying off, a need arose for the import of a workforce that would not be susceptible. To combat this issue, slaves from Africa were rapidly brought over to the New World because they had mostly been exposed to Smallpox in their home countries, therefore, they were immune.
When the British came to America, they also used the disease to get what they wanted. In 1763, the British used Smallpox as a way to purposefully kill off they native population in order to take over their homeland. This was the first instance of Germ Warfare and was conducted by taking items from a known Smallpox clinic and infiltrating them into nearby tribes. Once again, Smallpox made a significant dent in the native population.
Throughout the centuries, Smallpox was a disease that killed off many populations regardless of their background. It was a nasty and practically unavoidable disease that destroyed homelands until its eventually eradication in 1980.
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