What was life like before Columbus ventured into the “New” World? Chances are you were taught in school that there was a lot of wilderness to tame and that American Indians sparsely filled the continents in a passive manner. Citing new research on many fronts, Mann contends that this picture is simply incorrect.
The Americas have been filled with many civilizations that were more advanced, in some respects, than their European counterparts. They lived in better harmony with the natural environment through the systematic burning of grasslands so that wild game would congregate into one central spot. In the meantime, burning would recycle the nutrients into the soil.
Europeans, unfortunately, brought disease. These diseases (like smallpox) may have killed about 95% of the population – which is why later European settlers saw the Native Americans as sparse. Besides an upheaval of health, the Europeans upended the environment, too, by stripping natural resources instead of reinvesting nutrients into the soil.
The Central and South American groups discovered writing and mathematics on their own. They even came to grips with the number zero far before their counterparts did in Europe. Mann cites evidence that, far from simple, the American Indians were refined. Some even taught their European neighbors that common sentiment should govern a land instead of a king. (Yes, the Indians were cited as more democratic while Europe was caught up in the divine right of kings.)
The terms used in this book can be confusing because they are so unfamiliar. Once the reader works past this, they will engage in a treasure trove of rich ideas based in research that challenge what American high schools currently teach about our past. Anyone who is willing to look beneath the stereotypes would benefit from this book.
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
Copyright (c) 2006
ISBN13: 9781400032051
Audiobook
Genre: Anthropology, History