Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Western Hemisphere lacked horses and beasts of burden, and their introduction unlocked the transport of goods, people, and knowledge. The indigenous peoples’ culture was entirely different to the Europeans, who had navigated there using technologies derived over centuries from Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. They preserved their knowledge using letters created by the Romans, written on paper invented by the Chinese. The calculations required for navigation used a number system that originated in India, and once they landed, they prevailed in armed conflicts by using the gunpowder invented in Asia. The Europeans had been the beneficiaries of the best cultural innovations and discoveries to that date, while the indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere had none of those advantages.

As well as exposure to ideas, the Europeans had also benefitted from previous exposure to diseases wholly new to the Western Hemisphere. The latter’s biological vulnerabilities decimated the native populations and were far more damaging than the weapons.