Why European Diseases Didn't Kill Africans

[@FromNothing]

Get a 20% Discount on all Happy Hippo Herbals products by applying Coupon Code: FN10 at fromnothing.info/market Patreon: www.patreon.com/FromNothing Follow me or support my content here: linktr.ee/fromnothing

[@Lieu_Tenant_Gambit]

Great content family. But didn't see a link for the Akan remedy to smallpox

[@AncientAmericas]

Great episode on a very interesting topic! One thing I'd add to the conquest of the Americas is that it was often made possible by collaboration with native groups that allied with Europeans against other natives.

[@FromNothing]

Divide and conquer. It's what Hernan Cortes used against the Aztecs, it was also very common in Africa.

[@juniorbucinthe9270]

They did that in Africa also most soldiers in the European army were African themselves

[@FromNothing]

@@ario4795 Yes but my point is that they'd use the division to their advantage, whether they instigated it or not. They didn't really care about anyone's particular cause, they just wanted power for themselves. They would go on to conquer those who they were allied with anyway.

[@arrow1414]

Africa and Europe and the Middle East and Asia have been in relatively close contact with each other for thousands of years, with population passing through. The Americas were isolated from the rest of the World.

[@WeirdMagnus]

Middle East is a part of Asia????

[@Umu_Eri]

@@WeirdMagnus yeah, you just learning that now?

[@arrow1414]

@@WeirdMagnus It could be considered so. The Romans called what is now Turkey Asia Minor for example.

[@WeirdMagnus]

@@Umu_Eri I know it’s just weird how people act like the Middle East isn’t a part of Asia

[@UnDark1]

@@WeirdMagnus technically Africa, Europe, and Asia are all connect as one landmass

[@lordMartiya]

Addendum on African ironworking: the ancestors of the Haya people actually had developed open heart furnaces for the production of CARBON STEEL as early as 2,000 years ago, a feat Europeans only managed to match in the 1850s. While the technology was lost when mass-produced European steel tools became available and cheaper to obtain, for almost two thousand years an African people could make the best steel in the world.

[@FromNothing]

I've mentioned that in several videos before.

[@lordMartiya]

@@FromNothing I have discovered your channel only recently, I didn't know. As an Italian I'm more used to European and American versions of history, and I suppose you know better than me how they can be biased.

[@diodelvino3048]

I think Syrians were one of the first to produce Carbon steel (Demsacus steel) but alot of those techniques are lost today

[@erikthomsen4768]

@One world, One Love You know specifics has a bigger chance of changing people's perception.

[@baseupp12]

I think the answer is because Africans have always had contact with Europeans and encountered the same diseases at around the same time the Europeans got it.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Including the Congo?

[@Umu_Eri]

@@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115 yeah the congo is rather connected through trade

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

@@Umu_Eri you're right, I was checking, and forgot Congo river is like a highway.

[@samwill7259]

Africans to smallpox: I sleep Europeans to Malaria: AAAAAHHHHHH

[@bbp2930]

Lmao

[@Jay-ho9io]

While not as apocalyptically impacted as the Americas, you shouldn't understate the impact of smallpox on African peoples. It was still a horrific disease that brought tremendous suffering.

[@samwill7259]

@@Jay-ho9io True enough but when compared to the damage it did in the Americas and the damage the Malaria did to the Europeans in turn, there really is no contest.

[@Jay-ho9io]

@@samwill7259 agreed

[@jaronimo1976]

May be. But the Europeans still kicked arse. Even with ALL that 'civilisation'..

[@redspiritmask]

Great find on that cannon. I had read about the Benin creating their own firearms before but this is the first time I'm actually seeing a photo of one of them.

[@phunkracy]

West African muskets were renowned for craftsmanship, but ultimately it was still craftsmanship and not mass production that Europeans employed.

[@FromNothing]

I featured them in my "Why African Kingdoms Didn't Make Their Own Guns" video too.

[@JcoleMc]

time stamp ?

[@SamAronow]

People constantly overlook millennia of contact between Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the Old World; particularly West and East Africa. Egyptians probably circumnavigated Africa sometime around the Persian conquests. This misunderstanding still causes some major problems today. It’s a pet peeve that my channel will also be addressing soon…

[@bigchris1234]

You think ancient Egypt, which by the time of the Persian conquests hadn't been independant since the Kushite conquests, managed to circumvent Africa? The level of maritime technology simply didn't exist. It's one thing to get a small trireme to Crete or even Greece, it's another thing to traverse the violent waters of the Atlantic. Plus, what possible motivation would ancient Egypt have had to undertake such a voyage in the first place?

[@SamAronow]

@@bigchris1234 See Atun-Shei’s video on it. Primary sources on it are nonexistent, and what we have left was only written a century later, but it gave the very specific, accurate, and for the time non-intuitive detail that the sun was in the north when they rounded the southern end. Even the idea that Africa _could_ be circumnavigated was not to be presumed at that time; let alone that it extended significantly south of the Equator.

[@makeytgreatagain6256]

@@SamAronow nonsense the Egyptians were nowhere close to being that advanced even hanno the navigator only made it to Gambia or the Gulf of Guinea before turning back and they were far better seamen than the Egyptians.

[@coe3408]

Many of his videos are very good. But his video claiming am Ancient connection between Japan and West Africa is completely pseudohistorical, as most Afrocentrism is. Just recycling and inversting nordicist theories from the 19th century.

[@makeytgreatagain6256]

@@coe3408 he never said the two are connected though… your just seeing what you want to, he simply said there’s odd similarities in some traditions and names which is legit true I’m part Nigerian myself and many of our words are similar especially my clan which have words for things that have identical meanings in Japan and China. The capital of the Oyo Empire in Youroba was called “Edo” whislt at the same time in Japan their capital was also “Edo” How does pointing out these weird occurances mean he’s saying Japan is influenced by africa? He even stated neither ever had any contact this is a case of convergent evolution

[@NorthEevee]

Hearing that some African cultures had a god dedicated to smallpox is the most metal thing I've heard this week.

[@GhostCountries]

Great analysis! I think a lot of people who are not familiar with history should watch this, it makes a lot of things clear and is also interesting! Keep going!

[@matthewbrotman2907]

Europeans settled in the Americas and Australia because, partly as a result of the diseases, there was room for them. They didn’t settle Asia or most of Africa because those places were fully populated.

[@ettinakitten5047]

I also think those continents likely had higher population density to begin with. In the Americas, there were some farmers, but there were also large chunks of land primarily or exclusively inhabited by hunter gatherers, and farming can sustain much higher population density than hunting and gathering. In Africa and Asia, much larger proportions of territory were already held by agricultural peoples.

[@gequitz]

Agreed. Also, the Kushites were able to defeat Roman (plus Arabic and Persian) invasions, so Eurasians were unable to conquer Nubia until the late middle ages. After that, Muslim North Africa was able to stem European conquest of Africa in the 16th century. Both directly, with Morocco winning the Battle of 3 Kings, and by assisting Black Muslims, such as with the Ajuuraan-Ottoman alliance against the Portuguese in the horn of Africa.

[@HoneybadgerQ40]

The Moors

[@gertvanderstraaten6352]

Sounds right to me. I studied history for a year and a professor was talking about how Africa had no cities or states. I even interrupted him naming some West-African ones (I didn't know as much about it as I do now), and of course he told me these were the exceptions etc. I changed to Middle Eastern Studies after that year because I thought history was too Eurocentric (Middle East is still close by though).

[@FromNothing]

That's a shame...

[@samanth.]

​@One world, One Love it will in the future,

[@user-du6xz3dc3y]

You have to be prepared for their lies. No one invades and colonise a land that had nothing and until today they cannot live without the resources of Africa.

[@Anaximander9]

In the Americas, European (Old World) diseases killed the native population, thus opening up vast areas for settlement by Europeans. The opposite was true in Africa. In Africa, African diseases killed Europeans, thus inhibiting settlement of Europeans in Africa.

[@samthewanderer1074]

Excellent video! History student from Belgium here, and the lack of available coursesabout African history always bothered me.

[@kevinwindley7872]

Oh wow I love your research on this topic but I definitely got to share something with you privately , I think you will be amazed of the information

[@omartistry]

I’m Gullah Geechee, and my culture arguably wouldn’t be possible if not for stronger resistance for European diseases, and Colonizers weakness to our diseases during slavery. Malaria was so rampant in the low country part of the South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida that whites often left slaves isolated on the plantations that we created the creole culture that retains African mannerisms and traditions. Also many of the Gullah Geechee teamed up with the Seminoles and created an off branch called the “black Seminoles”. I know you mainly do African history but I would love for you to research our part in the Seminole wars and Gullah Geechee culture in general. Our history is on resistance against slavery so it’s not the same African American narrative.

[@rcwagon]

Very interesting video. Thank you. Found your channel through Epimethius.

[@afro_souledits2382]

West Africans especially where we are located have a strong resistance or immune system towards diseases that can kill many it’s really one the reason us black men have the most testosterone is because our prostrate receptor has to constantly push out hormone’s that build quick twitch muscles and other things that build immune system resistances, it uses so much over time that we black men lead in prostate cancer but also we created a vaccine for malaria centuries ago

[@wrpg9955]

Lel

[@wrpg9955]

Hahahahhahahah

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Nay... africans are not the ones with more testosterone, it's asians due to compensate the genetic adaptations to a soy & rice based diet. Besides africans have the highest rate of estradiol of all human subspecies. And forget not testosterone is an immune depressor (honest handicap).

[@bbp2930]

Your right

[@weirdo4653]

there's a guy who made a video about it, i forgot his channel name.

[@ettinakitten5047]

In fact, the virgin soil epidemic effect actually worked *against* Europeans in colonizing Africa, as there's evidence that several African diseases were introduced to European populations to devastating effect during the scramble for Africa. Yellow fever in particular played a part in the success of the Haitian revolution, since the disease was brought over by enslaved people and affected Napoleon's troops much worse than it did the locals. French refugees from the revolution brought the disease to the USA, where it ravaged the locals. It may be their experiences in Haiti that led to the belief that black people would be less affected by the disease, but American Blacks didn't have the same resistance as Haitian Blacks - likely because they'd gone several generations without exposure to the disease since US stopped importing enslaved people, and also because of admixture with European-descended Americans. Of course, many African diseases were not completely unknown to Europeans like the old world diseases were to Native Americans, but because many of these diseases spread more readily in the tropics, Europeans had less exposure to them and less resistance.

[@omggiiirl2077]

We as Africans have had so much erased especially the proof of our advancement and ingenuity. A good example is the Capital city of Benin, of the Oyo empire. Europeans we're so drunk on their own superiority that they dismissed the organization and layout of the city as Chaotic but in reality it was planned using fractal geometry a concept they didn't yet understand. There's so much that Africa never gets recognized for such as being the birthplace of art, spirituality, math, and writing with physical archaeological proof. I also find is crazy that the rest of the world still looks at us in that very limited view of what they consider civilized. Finally people keep saying where's the proof, but there's is, and a lot of that proof is either destroyed under cities, or just overlooked because people never bothered, dismissing our continent as having no signs of civilization.

[@tm-ym2ye]

White ppl didn't show up on the world seen until Africa was already in its twilight. But I am American and they( white ppl ) know this about us but they can have us knowing and aspiring to that.. they almost lose control in the early 1900s hence the race riots of the 20s and 30s

[@kevinprzy4539]

Huh? the birthplace of mathematics was Sumeria which is in the middle east not Africa.

[@omggiiirl2077]

@@kevinprzy4539 okay. Obviously you have outdated information. But okay.

[@kevinprzy4539]

@@omggiiirl2077 nope, it’s from Mesopotamia (Iraq), up until the 1940’s people believed it was Greece (Greece was actually the first organized mathematics) but it was invented in Mesopotamia.

[@tm-ym2ye]

@@kevinprzy4539 oldest math device is from Kenya Sudan Congo area... the problem is early archeologist were racist and cwey little work is done 8n Africa out side of Egypt

[@SuperTommox]

This is a great insight!

[@letslearnspanishtv]

Great video! That's why I always say never put down your weapons!

[@curtiswfranks]

I was just wondering this. Looking forward to the answer!

[@franklegarda6510]

I did enjoy your video you don't typically simplify it like everyone else you put shades of Gray in stories that a lot of people thought they knew like a true historian the older I get I realize the world is not just black and white

[@anneeq008]

Good topic 👍

[@darinmelton8866]

Nice work 🔥🔥🔥

[@anthonymanderson7671]

Great video ☺️👍🏾

[@slamben6742]

i love this video, i learned a lot

[@matthewmann8969]

Native Africans in a general kind of manner or matter aside from maybe The Khois And Sans were use to having contacts with Western Eurasians as a general rule for many long standing periods of timestamps while Native Americans most of them had little to no contacts with those same kinds of peeps for too much extended of a line yeah

[@consulargeneral8136]

If you are referring to capesoids as khoikhoi and san people which isn't accurate khoikhoi is a language that is common with pastorilist you donot have to be a capesoid to speak khoikhoi there are people related to venda, kalanga and shona people who speak khoikhoi. There are people who are san bushmen no admixture who speak the language bantu. Capesoids are hottentots and sanbushman not khoisan, khoisan is a language. Capesoid are the most immune to everything why do you think HIV/ AIDs failed to eradicate us here in southern africa the targeted countries where Zimbabwe, south africa and zambia look at our populations today combined more than 80 million . Do you know ebola pandemics and epidemics are so frequent in southern Africa the mutation of ebola is the worst in this region vs places like the congo but it doesn't affect us I was shocked to find out we already had ebola to make it more surprising the worst strain. There are people like me I am immune to getting HIV/AIDs. God has shown us tremendous favour this is miraculous intervention. Glory Be To God The Father And The Son And The Holy Spirit As It Was In The Beginning Is Now And Ever Shall Be World With Out End Amen.

[@chairde]

Christianity was in Africa a thousand years before it entered Europe.

[@phasematerialsresearch9319]

That’s not something to be proud of. Christianity is a lie. The Dogon traditions are light years ahead of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam combined which is why they rejected all Abrahamic religion snd still going strong today.

[@alexandrejose8362]

Hey Jabari, are you going to make a review of the Woman King trailer, or do one of the movie? I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the matter.

[@FromNothing]

Yes it should be released soon.

[@chadtep7571]

@Alexander Jose, I hope to see a very well produced series about the Haitian Revolution. That's one of the most incredible events in human history but Hollywood probably will never touch the subject or it will be extremely watered down like the Tuskegee Airmen movies. Same with the Seminole Wars and John Horse. That kind of history needs to be hidden or reshaped to fit the public's palate. I'm going to watch the Woman King

[@fedoralexandersteeman6672]

Aargh! My phrenotopia comments were apparently caught by the spam filter! 😮

[@FromNothing]

Did you post links or something?

[@danielmcandrew979]

Only quibble is with the last point of comparison. The spread of old world diseases too off from literally the first expedition of Columbus through Caribbean trade routes to Central America. By the time conquistadors were moving north into places like Arkansas, and a far south as the southern andes, they were running into scenes from an apocalypse movie. A similar thing happened with old world wild pigs, much bigger and with thicker hide than native peccaries, who the conquistadors that gave up on searching for wealth in the US south ran into and were used as their main source of sustenance. Basically there was an array of empires, Nations, confederations and other types of countries throughout north, central, and South America as well as the Caribbean. There were any states US and European archaeologists are only just now learning about from places in the amazon basin and the Mississippi basin and its tributaries. There is also evidence for complex trade between and through all these regions, just like in Eurasia and Africa. It does nothing to take away from your larger point, the diversity of African and modern humans dieting there the longest combined to give rise to cultural and technological innovations that aided genetic ones like more resistance to tropical diseases and zoonotic diseases in the population to make African uniquely unconquerable until an outside for had the industrial revolution and military revolutions in full swing. I just thought this warranted pointing out because just like people look at you side ways if you correct them that aborigines in Australia did have massive construction projects and agriculture, people in the US and Europe act like there were no complex societies or trans continental trade amongst native Americans. But there was

[@danielmcandrew979]

*existing, not dieting (also lots of other typos but this rendered the meaning incomprehensible)

[@Keonny77]

That was very good. But i think you discounted some of this information when it was given in guns germs and steel... is that correct? I think this information continues to be reevaluated & refined. For instance we debate how long it took for them to get a foothold on the continent and these coastal castles that were built were used with native labor or only European labor... My understanding is that many of the horses had to be imported as it is difficult for horses to reproduce in Africa because of the heat. Another level would be to consider y African didn't copy the sea trade routes in the atlantic. Lots of variables...

[@bigevil1001]

One word: “INOCULATIONS.”

[@khrazixanimations]

Hey just to let you know, I really like your videos and you're one of the first people to get me into African history, however, I have a few issues with this video. You seem to be taking a lot of inspiration from the 'Guns, Germs and Steel' book, which states that the Americas were conquered by disease, superior metallurgy and the ability to use livestock for transport. While there is some merit to these ideas, most modern-day historians largely disavow this book for being overly simplistic and not looking at many of the other factors that went into colonialism, as well as relying too much on environmental determinism and ignoring human agency. While this video is mainly about Africa instead of the Americas, it still uses many of the same ideas and I think this can badly misrepresent American culture and civilisation. As two continents are both massively impacted by colonialism, I think it's important to give Native American cultures the same respect as African ones. If you look online you can find a few good articles explaining the flaws with the Guns Germs and Steel model, and I think it's important for a channel like this to portray a good perspective on history. Just thought I'd share my thoughts, thanks.

[@FromNothing]

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I am aware of Guns, Germs, and Steel's oversimplification of history and while it does have its flaws, it is still a valuable source in many other areas and I did use it as one of many sources for this video actually. Additionally I mentioned other factors including the presence of a larger number of centralized states in Africa than America (Which would be more challenging for European conquerors) and I mentioned how the military technological gap between Africans and Europeans wasn't as large as it was with the Americans. Lastly I mentioned very clearly that I'll be mentioning "Some of the major reasons." I didn' t say that these were the end all or be all factors.

[@coe3408]

Of course the book has flaws. But I have found no other better explanation for why continents developed the way they did.

[@khrazixanimations]

​@@coe3408 That's the issue though, there is no good 'explanation' besides the thousands of years of history in each continent. While these environmental factors played a part, there are just a small part of a myriad of reasons why these societies ended up how they did. The environmental determinism proposed by GG&S is flawed because it acts as though humans are slaves to their own environment and removes any human autonomy from history.

[@GlareBoxTV]

@@khrazixanimations So if we talk about agency / autonomy, could a possible counter argument to the Jared Diamond theory be that native tribes colonized by Europeans saw little need for certain items /technologies/practices rather than because the environment was too harsh / lack of animals that could be domesticated to use as livestock?

[@coe3408]

@@GlareBoxTV That thesis may have some merit, but it is somewhat flawed because historically indigenous people adopted some types of European technology once they had the opportunity. To give two examples: tupi people of coastal Brazil traded brazilwood used for dyes for iron axes and knifes, which made agriculture more productive. Also the indigenous peoples of Brazil quickly adopted dogs which the Portuguese had brought

[@davidfoss4365]

My understanding is the history of Native Americans in Florida relative to the Spanish is much more complex that simply the Seminole people. So be aware this narrative is a highly simplified regarding FLorida.

[@Maddoe757]

Aboriginal Americans were dark skinned too but they aren’t going to tell you that, the Olmecs are proof

[@FromNothing]

What are you talking about?

[@phunkracy]

A small tidbit: Neo-Inca state probably adopted European smelting by virtue of having craftsman escapees from Spanish controlled regions.

[@Jay-ho9io]

This statement is absolutely inaccurate. Advanced metallurgy to include bronze, copper and gold work existed prior to any European invasion.

[@phunkracy]

@@Jay-ho9io it is accurate and you just miss the context, which is to be found in the video. Good luck being a contrarian somewhere else

[@Jay-ho9io]

@@phunkracy there's nothing contrarian about the fact of bronze smelting techniques completely separate from European techniques present roughly 500 years prior to invasion. There's a variety of sources, but the one I have on hand Quoi, et al "Pre-Incan Metallurgy" 2007

[@phunkracy]

@@Jay-ho9io yeah and it's literally mentioned IN THE VIDEO you comment under. My comment expands on it, adding that Inca remnants probably knew iron smelting

[@k.j.freeman5452]

Ummm... why is there a random vid of a nursing baby included?

[@FromNothing]

It's not random, it was shown in reference to Old World people passing genetic resistance to diseases on to their kin.

[@k.j.freeman5452]

@@FromNothing through breast feeding?

[@FromNothing]

@@k.j.freeman5452 Did my video of breastfeeding offend you?

[@FromNothing]

But yes, everything about that video was in relation to what I said. "Passing it on to their kin" was represented by a baby (which is the woman's kin) and breastmilk itself is one of many ways that baby's immune system is strengthened.

[@k.j.freeman5452]

@@FromNothing no, not offended. Just seemed random, from a viewers point of view. Thought it could have been an editing mishap.

[@rohang6213]

Nothing gets past the Sahara.

[@tm-ym2ye]

Ummm ethiopia was not conquered

[@superdevton1137]

It was briefly conquered by Italy after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War

[@ngumzakwanza8495]

KHOISAN?

[@FromNothing]

Why do you always comment single word questions? Lol.

[@elshebactm6769]

🤠👍🏿

[@cameo1013]

Portuguese conquistadors didn't have much problem conquering Kongo, Angola and Zanzibar, with Zimbabwe being the only exception. Either way just like African iron working surpassed Indigenous American metallurgy, the new continent surpasses most of Africa in terms of agriculture, hidraulics, literary tradition and of course architecture.

[@samanth.]

But africans were farmers till this day the kushites had written language, blacks had conqured Egypt while whites were still in stone age

[@opakular]

Actually, the Portuguese were unable to conquer Kongo and the surrounding kingdoms. In fact, the Portuguese were dealt a major military blow in the region, when they were defeated by the forces of a Kongolese province called Soyo in 1670. So devastating was that defeat, that it ended Portuguese attempts to conquer Kongo until the latter 19th century. By that time European weaponry was more advanced than its 17th century predecessors, thus enabling European armies to easily defeat African states.

[@geraldpoole274]

Because Africa is where they came from... same as roday

[@FromNothing]

The diseases mentioned in this video are much younger than the initial "Out of Africa" migrations. That's why they were absent among people like the Native Americans and Australian Aboriginals. With a comment like that I assume you didn't even watch the video.

[@kenopsia6748]

what do you think of current chinese exploitation of Africa´s natural resources?

[@justju0rd]

Ain’t no way you’re here after being racist and an annoying pos

[@FromNothing]

I think it can be beneficial to the continent as long as the African leaders are smart about it. Unfortunately not all of them are.

[@OhSanjiBoi]

Question: If you don't care about African History why bother asking?

[@justju0rd]

@@OhSanjiBoi exactly bruh

[@weirdo4653]

Apparently China is not well-intentioned in this "exchange" taking into account all rac!st comments made by you here, why ask? Bipolarity?! Schizophrenia?? Drugs?😂

[@Hakor0]

Being not black it sort of makes me in awe of particular black people's physical prowess yet again.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Americans of Mongolic stock are far more related to Europeans than blacks, who have up to 19% of their DNA from an unknown pre hominid, genes not found on Europeans or asians, thus making for enough difference to get a whole different set of immunity related gene clusters.

[@phunkracy]

That's insanely racist

[@Spaghetter813]

Considering that humans share 99% of DNA with chimpanzees and 84% with dogs, isn't that 19% figure impossible?

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

@UCbC8iynw3pbIgntCSk7jv8A why your comment is the only one I can see?

[@staC-wh6ik]

Not exactly pre-hominid but an archaic hominin that split from the ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans 360,000 to 1.02 million years ago, and then introgressed into the ancestors of present-day West Africans.

[@phunkracy]

@@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115 it's a racist-o-vision I guess