this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2026
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I often think what life in this continent would be like had there never been any colonialism. But if Europe still had contact with the native peoples and their nations through trade. How would the people here have evolved?
Depending on how long they would be isolated.
Central american powers were starting to play with the Empire idea when europeans came along.
They might have had a Genghis Kang sooner or later.
Also contact by trade would have been almost as lethal as the conquest. Remember that most death were because the diseases the europeans brought with them.
Europe would be the singularly industrialized hub of the world. North America would look like Africa, South America and much of Asia.
there would be things like passenger pigeons that wouldnt go extinct, plus rare plants that became extinct due to development in a specific area where it only survived.
You might enjoy the book 1491 a lot - it goes over what populations existed before contact, and even explores the period when people would make decisions between whether they would stay a colonial resident or join a native country - and vice versa. Turns out it was very much down to the person.
Of course, it also has the mind-blowing fact that we lost roughly 92% of the population of the Americas to disease - which is how the Europeans walked into the "New World" so easily, but also why they had to start importing slaves from Africa. The author frames it as if we just suddenly lost all of China - and laments the cultural exchange we've lost as a result.
10/10 read, would recommend if you like the topic.
Mann's follow-up book 1493 is equally good.
Iโve got a lot of family in the Caribbean and itโs interesting how much of the flora and food culture has also been changed by resettlement.
Where my family is, the tradition cuisine is generally African or Indian influenced and many of the veggies and fruits were brought from these places. Even botanical gardens that are trying to create a wild food forest are doing so with mangoes, papaya, breadfruit, etc which were all Asian imports. When I go there, Iโm often left wondering what these islands looked like in centuries past and what the cuisine was.
like the carribean monk seal that became extinct, the haiwain one is very endangered. i was looking at flora and fauna, so many went extinct when humans came to islands.( like giant and another solenedons which became extinct pretty recently), plus the related nosphentes which has its lineages traced back to the cretaceous.
Itโs really unfortunate how humans seems to make every ecosystem homogenous. Sometimes intentionally killing things, sometimes bringing things that remind them of home (North Americaโs starlings and mute swans for example). I really try to maintain a garden full of plants native to my area to support local insect life, but it really feels like using a Nerf gun for a fire fight, as when I step off my property itโs invasive things everywhere.
Wow!!! Ok I'm definitely reading this.
Thanks so much!
Whatever you do, don't read Guns, Germs and Steel. It's just fucking nonsense.
Got it. ๐
Probably using the same system that they evolved elsewhere. Humans be humans
I wonder.
Even Japan had colonization from the mainland peoples that drastically changed the native culture which seemed to resemble much more the American native people's culture.