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Death Toll Estimate: 100 Million





When Christopher Columbus, John Cabot and other explorers in the 15th century found a new continent, it must’ve seemed like the dawn of a new age. Here was a new paradise that adventurous Europeans could call their new home. There was, however, one problem: this land already had an indigenous population.

Over the following centuries, the seafaring Europeans brought vast death tolls to what is now referred to as North and South America. Although war and invasion can account for a hefty chunk of these casualties, it was the natives’ lack of immunity to European diseases that caused the most deaths. Some estimates state that 80% of the Native American population died as a result of contact with Europeans. -- http://listverse.com/

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I can't help but observe the stark contrast between the population levels in Nueva Espana (Mexico) and Las Filipinas prior to and after Spanish colonization. While the former's native population plummeted , the latter experienced a population boom from some 300,000 as documented by Spanish dominican friars to around 8 million by the ending of the 19th century.

The native Malays' immunity to diseases such as small pox, yersinia pestis (bubonic plague) and other hosts of diseases indicates an early exposure. This validates the maritime history of the Malays that inhabited the Philippines prior to Hispanization. The extensive contacts with Arab, Indian and Chinese traders, most probably was a blessing for the Malays, in terms of immune health.

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