Week Six: Bio-history (August 5) Study Questions

William McNeil, Preface and Introduction to Plagues and Peoples

PREFACE:
1. What’s his point in discussing the spread of the AIDS epidemic?

2. “We remain part of the earth’s ecosystem and participate in the food chain whereby we kill and eat various plants and animals, while our bodies provide a fair field full of food for a great variety of parasites.”(page 16)
Explain the historical significance of this quote:

INTRODUCTION:
1. What’s McNeil’s argument regarding Cortes’ conquest of the Aztec empire?

2. “It is worth considering the psychological implications of a disease.”(page 20) Explain.

3. On page 21-22 McNeil makes a compelling argument that “unfamiliar infection” has a significantly different impact on a population than disease that is well known by the population. What’s the argument?

4. Is McNeil talking about history, epidemiology, biology, or something else? How might the working historian access disease in history?

Alfred Crosby, “Virgin Soil Epidemics as a Factor in the Aboriginal Depopulation in America,” The William and Mary Quarterly, 1976, 33 (2): 289-299

1. In the first and second paragraphs, Crosby defines “virgin soil epidemics.” What does he mean?

2. Why weren’t the aboriginal peoples of the Americas able to resist the diseases of the Europeans?

3. What’s the difference between Union troops and Aztec population?

4. “Virgin soil epidemics tend to be especially deadly because no one is immune in the afflicted population and so nearly everyone gets sick at once…The Fire goes out and the cold creeps in; the sick, whom a bit of food and a cup of water might save, die of hunger and the dehydration of fever.” Explain the significance of this quote.

Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism, (1986) “Weeds”
1. Why does Crosby start with the Hooker quote on the cover of this chapter?

2. (page 146)What are the two phenomena that must be explained as part of the European “demographic advance” in certain areas of the world?

3. How does Crosby define neo-Europes?

4. How does Crosby define weed? (page 149)

5. What is the historical significance of these weeds? What examples does Crosby use?
6. Look at the number of plants in the San Joaquin Valley that were not here before European conquest.

7. Think of other historical settings in which weeds may have played a role.
In essence, what is the historical significance of weeds?



Synthetic Moment:
Compare and contrast Bio-history with Environmental History.