Although the truth has been known for a long time, historian Charles C. Mann has collected much of the evidence in a new book entitled 1491.
Here's NPR audio about the book:
NPR : '1491' Explores the Americas Before Columbus
Go here to read an excerpt from the book:
1491 book excerpt
It is not surprising to find this sort of refuse on the internet. The real shame is that my students will read and possibly believe it. The influx of Europeans completely destroyed Native American society (granted that communicating diseases, except when doing it on purpose, wasn't something we could control). What happened afterwards (ignored treaties, Trail of Tears, Andrew Jackson using Native American skin as decorative dress) was a crime against humanity that has no resemblance to our problem of needed migrant work for the economy we created to continue working to our advantage. The author describes actually exactly what a sailor would look like compared to a Native American in that time period.
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