LogFAQs > #941466331

MrMallard posted...

It's a common tactic among European settlers - the Spanish settlers spread syphilis among the Mayans, and America has a pretty infamous case where they passed out blankets to the natives that were infected with smallpox.

I liked your Australia write up. Ive only been there once, but hope to go again. The country is too large to appreciate in one or two visits

Just to be clear, there is only one documented case of British citizens allegedly delivering small pox-infected blankets to Native Americans. That was in the summer of 1763 when a trader might have done so to diplomats negotiating a possible surrender of Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania. No one knows if it had any effect, assuming it happened. What we do know is that at least two high-ranking officers of the British forces not only discussed infection as a potential weapon, but also agreed it should be attempted.


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