1491: Debunking Myths about the Americas before Columbus

Summary

In this video, Emily Glinkler of 'Anti-Social Studies' debunks myths about pre-Columbian America, revealing a rich tapestry of indigenous civilizations with complex societies, advanced technologies, and extensive trade networks. She emphasizes the significant population and cultural achievements of Native Americans, highlighting their sophisticated agricultural practices and the devastating impact of European diseases. Challenging the notion of a 'pristine wilderness,' she showcases the intentional environmental engineering by indigenous people that shaped the Americas before Columbus.

Takeaways

• 🗣️ The script is a historical discussion by Emily Glinkler debunking myths about pre-Columbian Americas.
• 🌏 It challenges the notion that the Americas were sparsely populated, asserting that the population was equal to or larger than Europe's in 1492.
• 📚 Historical estimates of indigenous populations were often based on early explorers' accounts, which underestimated numbers due to disease impact.
• 🔍 Recent scientific and archaeological advancements have helped to revise population estimates upwards, with current estimates suggesting around 50 million indigenous people before European contact.
• 🏙️ The script refutes the idea that Native Americans were uncivilized, highlighting sophisticated societies like the Aztecs and Incas.
• 📖 It points out that indigenous Americans had complex writing systems and a high level of cultural advancement.
• 🛶 The script emphasizes the extensive trade networks among indigenous groups, which were established without the use of domesticated animals or the wheel.
• 🔫 It discusses the misconception that European technology, particularly guns, was vastly superior to that of the indigenous people.
• 🌳 The script dispels the myth of pre-Columbian North America as an untouched wilderness, explaining the extensive environmental engineering by indigenous people.
• 🌾 Indigenous Americans developed many crops that are now staples worldwide, such as potatoes, corn, and tomatoes.
• 🏛️ The script also mentions the significant infrastructure and urban planning achievements of indigenous civilizations, including large cities and complex agricultural systems.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video 'Anti-Social Studies' by Emily Glinkler?

The main purpose of the video is to debunk common myths about the pre-Columbian Americas and provide a more accurate and complex understanding of the indigenous civilizations before European contact.

What is the cardinal error Emily admits to committing in the video?

Emily admits to the error of discussing indigenous Americans across two continents as a monolith, despite their diverse civilizations and groups.

According to the video, what is the estimated population of the Americas before Columbus arrived?

The video states that the generally accepted median estimate of the indigenous population of the Americas before Columbus arrived is around 50 million people.

Why were the population estimates of the Americas before Columbus so low for a long time?

The population estimates were low because they were based on the accounts of early explorers who described what they saw during or after massive epidemics, not realizing that disease had already caused a demographic collapse.

What is the myth about Native Americans being uncivilized or less civilized than Europeans that the video aims to debunk?

The video aims to debunk the myth that Native Americans were uncivilized by highlighting that they had complex societies, writing systems, and a high quality of life, which were often destroyed or overlooked due to disease and conquest.

How did the indigenous people of the Americas alter their environment to create a vast wilderness that provided for their needs?

Indigenous people used techniques such as slash and burn to create grasslands for farming and hunting, and they intentionally planted trees and other boundary plants to divert animal herds, making hunting more efficient.

What is the significance of the book '1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus' by Charles C. Mann in the video?

The book is significant as it provides new insights and research into the pre-Columbian Americas, challenging old myths and misconceptions, and is a primary source of information for the video.

Why did many early colonists choose to live with the native tribes rather than in European-style settlements?

Many early colonists chose to live with the native tribes because they were attracted to the egalitarian spirit, respect for human rights, and the high quality of life that indigenous societies offered, compared to the rigid class structure and feudal system in Europe.

What is the myth about pre-Columbian North America being a vast untouched wilderness that the video addresses?

The myth that pre-Columbian North America was a vast untouched wilderness is addressed by explaining that indigenous people had been actively and sustainably altering their environment for thousands of years to create a landscape that supported their needs.

How did the indigenous people's agricultural practices and crop development impact the world after the arrival of Europeans?

Indigenous people's agricultural practices led to the development of crops like potatoes, corn, beans, and tomatoes. When these crops were introduced to the Old World, they helped reduce hunger, increase food security, and fuel population growth across Africa, Europe, and Asia.

What is the importance of acknowledging the historical inaccuracies and myths about indigenous Americans for their identity and rights today?

Acknowledging historical inaccuracies and myths is important for validating indigenous people's contributions to history, recognizing their foundational civilizations, and supporting their ongoing fight for rights and recognition.

Outlines

00:00

🗺 Debunking Myths about Pre-Columbian Americas

In this introductory segment, the host, Emily Glinkler, sets the stage for a discussion aimed at dispelling common misconceptions about the indigenous peoples of the Americas before the arrival of Europeans. The video script addresses the tendency to generalize about indigenous Americans across two continents and acknowledges the limitations of this approach. It also clarifies that the video does not romanticize indigenous civilizations, recognizing their complexities, including instances of brutality and conflict. The primary goal is to challenge the myths about the pre-Columbian Americas, starting with the false notion that the Americas were sparsely populated at the time of European contact.

05:00

🌍 Indigenous Civilizations: Misconceptions and Realities

This paragraph delves into the myth that the Americas were underpopulated and uncivilized prior to Columbus's arrival. The host refutes this by presenting evidence that the population of the Americas was comparable to or even larger than that of Europe in 1492. The script discusses the challenges of estimating historical populations, especially given the demographic collapse due to diseases introduced by Europeans. It also highlights the advanced civilizations that existed, such as the Aztec and Inca Empires, and contrasts the common perceptions of indigenous people as nomadic hunters with the reality of their complex societies. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of understanding the cultural, social, and economic achievements of these civilizations to gain a more accurate view of pre-Columbian America.

10:02

🛡️ Indigenous Technology and Environmental Mastery

The third paragraph challenges the myth that Europeans had superior technology and that pre-Columbian North America was an untouched wilderness. It argues that indigenous people had mastered their environment through techniques like controlled burns to create sustainable habitats for both agriculture and hunting. The script points out that many crops we consume today, such as potatoes, corn, and tomatoes, were developed by indigenous Americans. It also discusses the sophisticated infrastructure projects, such as irrigation systems and farming techniques, that were in place before European contact. The paragraph emphasizes the ingenuity of indigenous people in transforming their environment to meet their needs without causing long-term damage.

15:03

🏛️ Rethinking History and Honoring Indigenous Heritage

In the concluding paragraph, the script calls for a reevaluation of history and the recognition of indigenous civilizations as being as complex and worthy of study as those of the Old World. It discusses the importance of acknowledging the historical contributions of indigenous people to the Americas and the significance of changing how we commemorate historical figures and events, such as replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day. The paragraph underscores the ongoing struggle for indigenous rights and the value of restoring a more accurate historical narrative to validate their heritage and contributions to the nation's history.

Keywords

💡Columbus Day

Columbus Day is a holiday in the United States, Canada, and Latin America commemorating the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. In the video, it is mentioned as a time to debunk myths about the pre-Columbian Americas, indicating a critical examination of the historical narratives associated with this day.

💡Pre-Columbian Americas

The term 'Pre-Columbian Americas' refers to the period in the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. The video discusses debunking myths about this era, emphasizing that indigenous civilizations were not void of culture or civilization, contrary to some historical misconceptions.

💡Indigenous Americans

Indigenous Americans, also known as Native Americans, are the original inhabitants of the Americas. The video script uses this term to discuss the broad generalizations made about these diverse groups, highlighting the importance of recognizing their varied cultures and histories.

💡Myth Debunking

Myth debunking is the process of challenging and disproving widely held but false beliefs. The video's theme revolves around debunking myths about the indigenous populations and civilizations of the Americas before European contact, providing a more accurate historical context.

💡Population Estimates

Population estimates refer to the calculated numbers of people living in a certain area during a specific time. The script discusses how the indigenous population of the Americas was vastly underestimated, with modern estimates suggesting a population equal to or larger than that of Europe in 1492.

💡Disease and Demographic Collapse

Disease and demographic collapse refer to the rapid decline in population due to widespread illness, often brought about by contact with foreign pathogens. The video explains how diseases brought by Europeans led to a significant reduction in the indigenous population, affecting historical estimates of their numbers.

💡Civilization

In the context of the video, 'civilization' refers to the complex societies and cultures that existed in the Americas before European arrival. The script challenges the myth that indigenous societies were uncivilized, highlighting their achievements in urban planning, agriculture, and social organization.

💡Trade Routes

Trade routes are the paths or networks used for the exchange of goods between different regions or societies. The video mentions extensive trade among indigenous groups across the Americas, indicating a sophisticated economic system that existed before European contact.

💡Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineering in this context refers to the intentional manipulation of the natural environment by indigenous people to suit their needs, such as creating grasslands for farming or attracting game for hunting. The video emphasizes that the Americas were not untouched wilderness but rather the result of thousands of years of such environmental management.

💡Agricultural Development

Agricultural development denotes the process of improving farming techniques and crop varieties. The script credits indigenous Americans with the initial development of many crops now grown worldwide, such as potatoes, corn, and tomatoes, which had a significant impact on global food production.

💡Cultural Misconceptions

Cultural misconceptions are false beliefs or stereotypes about a culture or group of people. The video addresses several misconceptions about indigenous Americans, such as their supposed lack of civilization or impact on the environment, aiming to provide a more accurate and respectful understanding of their history and contributions.

Highlights

The annual PR campaign by Emily Glinkler aims to debunk myths about pre-Columbian Americas.

Native Americans had complex civilizations, contrary to the myth of 'short and brutish' lives.

The Americas were not 'empty of mankind' before Columbus, challenging the historical misconception.

The acknowledgment of generalization errors in discussing indigenous Americans as a monolith.

Pre-Columbian civilizations were not devoid of brutality, similar to civilizations worldwide.

Myth debunking: The Americas were densely populated, with estimates ranging up to 100 million people.

Historical underestimation of indigenous populations due to disease and lack of documentation.

The demographic collapse due to disease made early explorers' accounts unreliable for population estimates.

Indigenous Americans were not uncivilized; they had complex writing systems and education.

European technology, such as guns, was not as superior as believed, and firearms were often unreliable.

Indigenous societies had advanced farming techniques and had domesticated many crops.

Pre-Columbian North America was not a 'vast untouched wilderness' but was actively managed by indigenous people.

Indigenous people's environmental engineering created the landscapes Europeans encountered.

The transformation of the Americas by indigenous people included sophisticated farming and hunting techniques.

Indigenous civilizations had large-scale infrastructure projects, such as Cahokia's trade routes.

The importance of acknowledging indigenous history for identity and the ongoing struggle for indigenous rights.

The significance of changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day as a form of recognition and respect.

Transcripts

welcome to anti-social studies I'm Emily

glinkler and I contextualize the chaos

one historical tangent at a time all

right it's almost the holiday formerly

known as Columbus Day so that means it's

time for my annual PR campaign to debunk

the myths about the pre-columbian

Americas let's go

[Music]

in the 1974 Pulitzer prize-winning

European discovery of America the author

observed that Native Americans

experienced quote short and brutish

lives void of Hope for any future oh my

gosh void of Hope as late as 1987 the

year I was born no big deal a standard

High School US history textbook

described the Americas before Columbus

as quote empty of mankind and its works

empty of mankind that is insane before I

get into the specific myths I do want to

just admit a sort of cardinal error that

I'm going to be committing throughout

this video which is that I'm going to be

talking about indigenous Americans

across two continents very broadly as a

monolith which they were not right so

I'm gonna be making these big broad

generalizations about things indigenous

Americans did or didn't do and of course

if I had the time and the resources it

would be way better for me to go in

depth and talk about each indigenous

civilization and group on its own but

for now I think it's better than nothing

to at least debunk some of the big broad

myths that a lot of especially us

Americans are taught about indigenous

people in the Americas before white

people arrived and number two I am not

trying to imply that every single

civilization of the Americas before

Columbus showed up was like pristine and

wonderful and valuable no sometimes they

were brutal they were intense they

fought they killed they murdered they

committed all of the same sort of crimes

and atrocities that human civilizations

across all of the world have committed

really since the beginning of recorded

history all I'm trying to do is talk

about a few just blatantly false

assumptions that are made about what

civilization did and didn't look like

before 1492 so that we can have a little

bit more clear and complex understanding

of what the Americas were like before

they were conquered and colonized myth

number one the Americas were sparsely

populated when Europeans arrived false

so in 1492 there were at least as many

or more people living in the Americas as

there were in Europe at the same time so

let's let that sink in the population of

the Americas which to be fair does

include North and South America was

equal to or larger than the population

of Europe in 1492. so our estimates of

how many indigenous people were in the

Americas before Columbus arrived have

been incredibly low until very recently

for one it's because math is hard right

but math is especially hard when you're

trying to estimate how many people used

to exist when there were so few of those

people left and very little

documentation of their previous

existence because most of that

documentation was destroyed in a

conquest right so for a long time

historians based their estimates of how

many people were in the Americas off of

the accounts of the earliest Explorers

so they would read the accounts of

Cortez or Cabeza de Vaca and they would

use their writings to try to like

reverse engineer and kind of estimate

how many indigenous people were there so

let's say an Explorer described a part

of the country as sparsely populated

then we assumed that meant that that

part of the continent was sparsely

populated because they're the first

Outsider to see them in tens of

thousands of years right it makes sense

but here's the problem it's become very

clear to us that disease spread across

these continents way faster than the

people did so what even those earliest

explorers we're seeing in most parts of

the Americas as they traveled through

the American southwest the Midwest the

mesoamerica whatever right they were

seeing the survivors of a demographic

collapse the early explorers and

colonists were describing what the

population looked like either during or

after a massive epidemic so their

estimates were incredibly low it's only

been in the last few decades thanks to

more advanced scientific and

archaeological tools that we've been

able to do a better job estimating the

actual numbers so first off we do know

pretty well that by around 1650 there

are around 6 million indigenous

Americans so the question of how many

there were before the arrival of

Europeans is important for determining

how many natives died and thus just what

was the scale and scope of this tragedy

now there's a wide range on this number

up until the middle of the 20th century

most Scholars said there were only 10

million indigenous people when Europeans

arrived across all the Americas so only

notice my air quotes around 4 million of

them died only 4 million newer Scholars

have estimated a number as high as 100

million indigenous people but the

generally accepted median number of how

many people were living in the Americas

before Europeans showed up is now 50

million

50 million people with this number that

would mean that 88 of the indigenous

population died during this time period

of first contact with Europeans in other

words when the first English settlers

arrived on the East Coast around 100

years after more than 100 years after

Columbus showed up the entire two

continents of the Americas only had

around 12 percent of the people that had

existed there around 100 years earlier

and think about this most of those

people who did survive were in Mexico

and South America the remnants of the

great Aztec and Inca Empires from the

Viewpoint of early settlers and

explorers North America was essentially

uninhabited but their mistake was not

realizing that they were visiting this

continent at the end of the greatest

demographic disaster in world history

myth number two the Native Americans

were uncivilized or at least less

civilized than Europeans false again

when most Europeans arrived they were

observing civilizations that had just

been completely destroyed by disease it

would be as if historians were writing

about the Romans but only after they

were sacked by The Barbarians we would

have a very different view of that

Civilization if we only learned about

their collapse and nothing about their

achievements for example that's why

people so commonly think of the

indigenous people of North America as

exclusively nomadic Hunters it's just

because all of the heavily populated

societies were wiped out as the disease

spread quickly in dense urban areas the

nomadic people were often all that were

left in some parts of the continent so

from this lens we have to understand

that the level of cultural advancement

and the settlement range of indigenous

Americans was way higher and broader and

more diverse than previously imagined

and first detour let's do a quick

reminder of what life would have been

like for most people living in Europe at

the same time so yes DaVinci was

painting the Mona Lisa and a teenage

Henry VII had just become king of

England but that doesn't tell us what

life would have been like for commoners

on the ground in 1492 in Europe most

people would still be living in a small

one-room home dirt floor in a rural area

Reliant upon the local Lord and his

manner for basic necessities small towns

existed for trading basic Goods but most

people spent their entire life within a

10 mile radius of their place of birth

thanks to the Crusades and the rise of

trade cities had sprung up but even the

largest only had around 100 000 people

living there Cusco by comparison the

capital of the Inca Empire was larger

than Paris at the same time the printing

press had just been invented by

gutenberger on 50 years earlier and so

though knowledge was spreading amongst

the elites like Copernicus access to

education and literacy was virtually

non-existent for most Europeans you can

contrast this with the fact that the

Aztecs and Maya both had complex writing

systems that were taught to young people

in schools now I'm actually not saying

one's better than the other it's

comparing apples and oranges right but a

quick note that a lot of today's episode

is based on the works of Charles C Mann

he wrote a book called 1491 New

Revelations of the Americas before

Columbus and he asked seven experts

anthropologists archaeologists and

historians if they would rather have

been a typical Native American or a

typical European in 1491 and all seven

chose to be a Native American in fact

many early colonists made the same

Choice scores of English people in

Jamestown and Plymouth ran off to live

with the native tribes why well the

other we have is clear the Native

Americans experienced a very high

quality of life this is excluding the

very obvious and very not their fault

rampant disease that had spread through

their communities pre-columbian American

societies had long traditions of

respecting human dignity social justice

individual protections against the abuse

of power by authorities many Europeans

who came to the Americas were Amazed by

the egalitarian Spirit of the natives

compared with Europe's feudal society

dominated by a rigid class structure and

rule by nobility the natives respect for

Human Rights was attractive to many and

even though technically native chiefs

were all-powerful colonial leader Roger

Williams wrote that quote they will not

conclude of ought unto which the people

are averse meaning that a lot of the

indigenous communities at least that the

early English settlers or colonists

encountered wouldn't Implement a new

policy if the people didn't support it

that's Democratic y'all so I'm not

suggesting that every single indigenous

Community was the same and that they

were all in this way more egalitarian or

had a higher quality of life or whatever

I'm just saying that if we're going to

make these huge assumptions about

indigenous people before the Americas

which is what white historians have been

doing for a very long time we're working

with some bad information economically

there's also a lot of evidence that

native groups traded extensively

throughout the Americas one of the

largest cities in North America Cahokia

was at the center of a continent-wide

trade route it was centered in modern

day St Louis their trade stretched from

the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico

Stones especially turquoise from the

American southwest have been found in

South America while Maize from Mexico

and feathers from the Amazon have been

found in modern day North America and

remember they would have established

these trade routes without domesticated

animals beasts of burden and without the

wheel almost all of this trade would

have been conducted by humans on foot

which is really impressive right it was

essentially their version of the Silk

Road and I just think we should give it

a name right we have the trans-saharan

roots the Silk Road the Indian Ocean

trade we need to have the maze lane or

the turquoise Turnpike or something I

don't know get on that finally a common

argument is that the Europeans have

highly sophisticated technology that

outmatched the natives now I'm not going

to say this isn't true guns were

undoubtedly more sophisticated or at

least could cause more damage than

Native Weapons but we shouldn't

overestimate their impact right 16th

century Firearms were highly unreliable

they often jammed many Native Americans

genuinely thought that the whole purpose

of a gun was just to create a

distraction they called them noise

makers even when they were given the

option many indigenous people kept their

arrows because they determined that guns

were much more difficult to aim

accurately which was true as John Smith

of the Jamestown Colony put it quote The

Awful Truth is that guns could not shoot

as far as an arrow could fly by the way

in my head every time I hear John Smith

I have to hear it in Mel Gibson's voice

so thanks for that Disney on other

technology moccasins were sturdier than

European boots they offered a silent

approach during Warfare as far as

sailing rivers and coastlines canoes

were faster and easier to maneuver than

any small European boat available at the

time the point is that guns and other

European technology honestly didn't do a

ton fun to help conquer the indigenous

people the single most important factor

was disease something that was brought

to the Americas completely unbeknownst

to the Europeans making it hard to give

them a lot of real credit for that part

of the conquest if that's the right word

for it finally myth number three that

pre-columbian North America was a vast

untouched Wilderness false I call this

the Pocahontas paint with all the colors

of the wind myth right our vision of the

world before Columbus is one of pristine

nature preserved by the natives when

Pocahontas sings about their harmonious

relationship with the natural world what

we hear is that the natives didn't touch

or transform their environment that is

far from the truth the new world was not

Wilderness like the Europeans believed

the indigenous people had been

constantly altering their environment

for thousands of years they were just

way better at it than Europeans were

basically the indigenous people

transformed their environment so

successfully that they created a vast

Wilderness that provided everything they

needed for example they didn't just sit

back as bison happened to pass by they

worked hard for Generations to create

factors so that the Bison would want to

roam or have to roam near them and they

did it in a way that was sustainable so

that future Generations would have the

same access to natural resources that

they had

what a concept

a lot of indigenous people used fire to

radically transform their environment

slash and burn techniques would create

huge grasslands that could be cultivated

both for farming and to grow plants that

would attract animals for hunting

basically when the Europeans arrived and

marveled at the massive herds of wild

game roaming the continent they were

looking at the results of centuries of

environmental engineering by the

indigenous people they didn't realize

how much effort had been undertaken to

make the continents this way and let's

be honest they probably wouldn't have

believed it could be done by the

indigenous people even if they had but

the Europeans believed that this was the

natural order of the American

environment and believe that these

populations would just automatically

replenish themselves so they hunted them

down without taking any action to

maintain the populations over time

meanwhile the indigenous people in the

United States for example were sitting

on their reservations watching their

Millennia of hard work go down the drain

as for farming today more than half of

the crops grown around the world were

initially developed in the Americas by

the indigenous people I talked in a

podcast episode about crop diversity in

Peru y'all the Inca developed over 4 000

types of potatoes but we also have the

indigenous Americans to thank for beans

corns Peppers avocados like that's what

I just call the Austin Texas Taco diet

right there's also Chia quinoa sweet

potatoes Tomatoes peanuts and pineapple

the American crops that travel back to

the so-called old world reduced hunger

around the world it transformed the

demographics of afro-eurasia populations

boomed across Africa Europe and Asia

thanks to easy to grow crops like

potatoes right the Europeans had

stumbled Upon This Kind of Perfect

environmental system they could sell

these popular American crops back to the

old world fueling a population explosion

especially in Africa then they could

take and kidnap and enslave the Africans

back across the ocean to work on farms

and plantations growing more of these

profitable crops the Europeans basically

just became the most successful

middlemen in all of history but beyond

counting and farming the indigenous

people just straight up built stuff too

like way more than we imagined as

Charles Mann author of 1491 describes

quote from Southern Maine down to about

the Carolinas you would have seen pretty

much the entire Coastline lined with

Farms cleared land interior for many

miles and densely populated Villages

generally rounded with wooden walls and

then in the Southeast you would have

seen these Priestly Chief domes which

were centered on large Mounds thousands

and thousands of them which still exist

excluding Central and South America who

built straight up Empires that would

compete with any Old World Civilization

to nochitutlan and Kuzco were both

bigger than London or Paris at the time

even in North America which was more

sparsely populated you had massive

infrastructure projects indigenous

people built sophisticated dams dikes

and piping to irrigate their fields they

intentionally planted trees and other

boundary plants to divert herds of

animals toward canyons and other natural

features that made hunting them easier

and more efficient okay so why do we

care what the world was like before

Columbus for your daily life it probably

doesn't really matter but for our

identity especially as U.S Americans it

really does and for indigenous Americans

who by the way still exist it matters a

lot indigenous people today are still

fighting for their rights the point is

that if you are an indigenous American

and you've had most of your Heritage

land and independent Stripped Away but

maybe we can at least give them back

some of their history by acknowledging

that their foundational civilizations

were just as civilized and worthy of

discussion as those in the old world we

are validating their value to our

nation's history rethinking history and

changing sometimes the people or events

that we honor like changing Columbus Day

to indigenous people's day might seem

trivial to some people but to those who

have a long and intense history with

those symbols of Oppression like

Columbus it means a lot and let's be

honest after all they've been through

it's almost literally the least we can

do thanks for watching make sure that

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