Prompt 1

Smallpox was one of the most influential diseases of human history. It completely changed its course. From the beginning, it brought about the downfall of the Aztec Empire. When the Spaniards came ashore to Central America, they brought with them an alien virus. With no previous exposure to such a disease, smallpox ran rampant throughout Central America, and it was the only reason the Spanish conquered their new world at all. With such devastating effects, the Aztecs did not pursue the Spanish, and thus, their Empire was brought to an end.

Centuries later, the English brought it to the Native American Indians, which destroyed their tribes by the thousands and allowed the new settlers to claim territory. The introduction of this disease was not accidental. Blankets were coated in the scabs of the smallpox virus and given to the Indians as a gift. This was one of the first-ever recorded use bioterrorism.

The virus even aided in the conception of human slavery. The virus had wiped out the majority of the labor force when the Portuguese first introduced it into Africa. It was at this time that human beings were transported as a means of labor. With the high mortality rate of the disease, more labor was required to work the land, both in Europe, Africa, and the New World, in which the outbreaks were most prevalent. This escalated the rate at which the slave trade worked.