Customer LoginRats, Disease, and the Unseen Impact on Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples’ Day
As we remember Columbus Day, let’s dig into a part of history that often stays in the shadows. Rats, those small but formidable creatures, played a big role in shaping America’s destiny.
From MFAME
Rats Arrive with Columbus
Back in the late 1400s, when Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas, he didn’t just bring explorers on his ships. Hidden in the cargo were unintentional stowaways—rats. These disease carriers, along with rats from later travelers, traveled across continents, setting the stage for major events with the arrival of later European explorers, including the Pilgrims.
Rats, Disease, and the Unseen Forces of Colonization
By the time the Mayflower left England in 1620, the rats of previous explorers had already paved the way for Europeans to take over the New World. The Pilgrims, who were supposed to land in New York, ended up far north in Provincetown. Along their unexpected journey, people fell ill with diseases spread by rat urine. When they reached Plymouth, rat-borne diseases had already claimed virtually all of the local Native Americans. – Slate.com
Epidemics Unleashed: Plymouth’s Uncharted Tragedy
The Pilgrims’ arrival at Plymouth, once seen as a divine plan in an apparently empty land, was actually shaped by the epidemics caused by the rats of explorers years before. Plymouth, with no Native Americans upon the Pilgrims’ arrival and considered part of God’s plan, had, in reality, been influenced by the silent impact of rodents. These rats, carrying diseases, played a key role in devastating Native populations, unintentionally making room for European colonization of New England. The often-overlooked mass graves from the Pilgrims’ first winter tell a story of diseases spread by rats and made worse by unmarked burials. – Plymouth Herald
Legacy of Rats: Shaping the Destiny of America
As we think about Columbus Day, we must recognize the consequences brought by Columbus’s rats and those from later travelers. Their quiet presence on ships like Columbus’s and the spread of leptospirosis decimated Native populations, forever altering America’s future.
Rediscovering the Threads of History
Looking back at Columbus Day, let’s not forget the silent killers—rats—who, along with European settlers, changed the course of history. The diseases they brought, from Columbus to Plymouth Rock, show how seemingly different events are connected. As we remember this day, let’s aim for a better understanding of history, one that remembers the danger of rats and the lack of awareness about diseases that had serious consequences for America’s history.