15th Century

1492-1800 – North American Native Population Decline, esp. due to disease       –~2,800,000

— ~2,800,000  Denevan. “The Pristine Myth: the Landscape of the Americas in 1492.” 2003, 6.

 

Narrative Information

Denevan: “What was the New World like at the time of Columbus?…

“Scholarship has shown that Indian populations in the Americas were substantial….

“I have recently suggested a New World total of 53.9 million.[1]  This divides into 3.8 million for North America…..

“…the native impact on the landscape of 1492, reflected not only the population then but the cumulative effects of a growing population over the previous 15,000 years or more.

“ European entry into the New World abruptly reversed this trend.  The decline of native American populations was rapid and severe, probably the greatest demographic disaster ever.[2]  Old World diseases were the primary killer…in North America from 3.8 million in 1492 to 1 million in 1800 (74 percent).”  (Denevan. “The Pristine Myth: the Landscape of the Americas in 1492.” 2003, 5-6.)

Source

Denevan, William M. “The Pristine Myth: the Landscape of the Americas in 1492.” Pp. 5-26 in: Warren, Louis S. (Ed.)  American Environmental History. 2003.

 

[1] William M. Denevan (Ed.).  The Native Population of the Americas in 1492, 2^nd Ed. Madison: Univ. Press, 1992.

[2] Cites:  George W. Lovell.  “Heavy shadows and black night”: disease and depopulation in Colonial Spanish America.  Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 82, No. 3, 1992, pp. 426-443.