Ecological Imperialism
Ecological imperialism is the idea that the true reason European settlers were so successful in the colonization effort was their introduction of animals, plants, and especially disease to new territories. The many pathogens they carried with them adversely affected the native populations of North America, Australia, and Africa, and were far more destructive than weaponry: it is estimated that disease wiped out up to 90-95 percent of indigenous people in some locations. Ecological imperialism also argues that the disregard colonists had for the environments they were invading upset the natural balance of the established ecological system.
Read more about Ecological Imperialism: Cortes and The Aztecs, "The New World", Fur Trade, Ecological Imperialism: The Expansion of Europe 900-1900 By Alfred Crosby
Famous quotes containing the word ecological:
“It seems to me that there must be an ecological limit to the number of paper pushers the earth can sustain, and that human civilization will collapse when the number of, say, tax lawyers exceeds the world’s total population of farmers, weavers, fisherpersons, and pediatric nurses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)