Sydney Pyon

Mr. Brangiel

AP United States History

30 August 2019

1491 Article Analysis

In 1491, Charles Mann provides support for his thesis about the New World before

Christopher Columbus as it was inhabited by the Native Americans. His thesis is divided into

two principal arguments: the natives were far more agriculturally advanced than the European

settlers, and that their population pre-1492 was much greater than approximated. Utilizing

publishments by other sources and discussing the viewpoint of authors countering his claims,

Mann successfully develops his argument on the Americas prior to European interference.

In support of his thesis, Mann utilizes a variety of sources and pieces of evidence in order

to substantiate his claim that the natives had a greater knowledge of agriculture than their

European conquerors. For example, Mann utilizes the example of maize. Also known as corn,

the Indians developed a multitude of varieties of the crop, allowing it to make an immense

impact on the Old World as well as it spread across the globe. Corn became a staple in the diets

of Central and Southern Europeans, becoming beneficial in that it resulted in a population boom.

Their vast knowledge in creating small land plots to farm and having the ability to alter their

environments to suit their needs greatly demonstrates their sophistication. Exploring their

historic land along the Hudson River, one would find that the Indians went to great measures to

transform their environment and capitalize on the natural resources they had. These findings

greatly contradict the viewpoints of people such as George Bancroft and Samuel Eliot Morison,

who believed that the Indians were simply “feeble barbarians, destitute of commerce and
political connection” and beings who live “short and brutish lives, void of hope for any future”.

Mann utilizes these numerous pieces of evidence about the complex and sophisticated nature of

the Indians in order to support his thesis.

Mann employed similar techniques in supporting the second part of his claim which was

that the population before Columbus in the Americas was far larger than estimated. The first

source that Mann cites is Henry F. Dobyns, who was the author of “Estimating Aboriginal

American Population: An Appraisal of Techniques With a New Hemispheric Estimate”. Mann

details the plethora of information that Dobyns discovered through his investigation of historical

records when he spent a few months in northern Mexico. What he discovered was a shocking

number of deaths, far outweighing the number of births, mainly in part to the epidemics of

disease that affected the continent before the settlers had even arrived. It was even a different

story once they arrived, as the diseases spread inland from the coast at a horrific rate, reaching

the natives before they had even made real contact with the Europeans. The meaning of Dobyn’s

findings is simply that the population had been much greater than documented due to the vast

numbers, an estimated 95 percent, of natives who died from immediate contact. With this

knowledge, he calculated that the Western Hemisphere held 90 to 112 million people prior to

Columbus, a number much higher than previously accepted. Another reason for the inaccurate

measurement of the population prior to Columbus is attributed to Hernando de Soto of Spain

who arrived in the Americas in 1539. Looking to conquer as much land as possible, Soto quite

literally obliterated every settlement he came across in Florida, Georgia, North and South

Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. His men were quite brutal:

raping, torturing, enslaving, and killing countless Indians. Not only did the people wreak havoc,

but the pigs that they brought with them did as well. Transmitting diseases to the people and
other animals, they greatly impacted the numbers of Indians. But how could these diseases have

such a detrimental effect on the Indians? Their biological MHC types, which is one’s set of

defensive tools against bacteria and viruses, are far less diverse than that of an African, meaning

they are much more susceptible to succumb to a disease. It is estimated that the population of the

Caddoan civilization fell from about 200,000 to 1,400, furthermore supporting Mann’s claim of

the extremely inaccurate population measure. Using evidence from Dobyns’ discoveries about

diseases, Hernando de Soto’s brutal killings, and the lack of diversity in the Indians’ MHC types,

Mann successfully supported his thesis of the low records of native populations prior to

Columbus.

Despite the various sources provided that support Mann’s two-part thesis, he details the

number of people who reject them as well. To start, David Henige in “Numbers from Nowhere”

disproves the claims of a larger population due to the fact that it simply is speculation. Most

counterclaims following support similar ideas of that of Henige. Dean Snow and Douglas H.

Ubelaker both claim the theory to be far too unsupported in today’s knowledge, as Ubelaker

stated, “Most of the arguments for the very large numbers have been theoretical.” In order to

provide the counter to these contradicting statements, however, Mann cites Lenore Stiffarm, a

Native American-education specialist at the University of Saskatchewan. She stated that these

anthropologists, who lack any expertise in Native American studies, are denying the theory of a

greater population in order to justify the reason for European inhabitance of the New World. This

being because a land populated by fewer people would be more acceptable to take over than one

that may have contained the great number of people theorized by many today.

Based on the support that Mann provided throughout his comprehensive article 1491, I

agree with his thesis that the natives before Columbus were a far larger, sophisticated population
than previously suspected. Providing valid facts into the picture such as exact numbers of the

decline in populations aided in persuading me to believe his theory. In addition, exact scientific

facts such as the differing biological component in the natives (MHC types) strongly supported

his conclusion. Finally, Mann utilized a multitude of renowned scientists throughout the passage,

providing historical facts and records to support their statements, proving the validity of his

sources. Charles Mann, employing tactics of concrete evidence and valid sources, successfully

supported his thesis that Native American societies prior to 1492 were much larger and complex

than previously perceived.