“PRAGAS” DA COLONIZAÇÃO: ATUAÇÃO DE DOENÇAS NA AMÉRICA COLONIAL

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.6592402049

• Palavras-chave: Grandes Navegações; Doenças; Malária; Varíola.

• Keywords: Great Navigations; Diseases; Malaria; Smallpox.

• Abstract: Much has been said about the Great Navigations and their battles over the centuries between European invaders and the native peoples of the Americas, and later other continents. However, other aspects have to be considered, especially those that can only be seen with the help of instruments such as microscopes: microorganisms. These practically invisible beings were and are capable of decimating large percentages of populations, and the colonization process was no different. In this essay, we will discuss two of the great diseases that ravaged American territory and destroyed civilizations: malaria and smallpox, and how their actions significantly influenced world history with the advent of the colonization process between Europeans and Native American peoples.