Africa, impelled by the same forces—societies fighting one another and out-
siders eager to give them the means. In America, colonists were delighted
to see Indians kill one another, but they feared that the guns would also be
turned against them. So as early as 1619 they sought to prevent merchants
from selling muskets, shot, or powder to Indians “upon pain of being held
a traitor to the colony and of being hanged as soon as the fact is proved,
without all redemption.” But even government officials violated the restric-
tions. The incentive to acquire the fur pelts that the Indians offered was too
great to resist, so guns were sold despite the ban.
Guns also made possible, and purchasing them made necessary, mas-
sive hunting of animals, particularly deer and beaver, for their pelts.
Whereas previously Indians had lived in balance with their environment,
they soon hunted some animals to extinction. Widespread famine followed
in due course.
Guns were not the only cause of the collapse of Indian societies;
drunkenness was at least as lethal. Rum came with the whites’ incursion. In
early Maryland, before extensive contacts with the whites, Indians were
“very temperate from wines and hote waters, and will hardly taste them,
save those whome our English have corrupted.” So wrote Father Andrew
White, S.J., in 1634. Later, liquor not only became the scourge of the
Indians but also the principal means by which Indian traders acquired furs.
Why the Indians were so incapable of abstaining from or withstanding
“demon rum” has long been debated. No certain answer is forthcoming,
but two possibilities merit consideration.
First, as we may observe today in Peru, people who have traditionally
used narcotics have developed a tolerance that outsiders lack. Perhaps
something similar affected the East Coast Indians, who were products of an
evolution different from that of Europeans. One indication of this differ-
ence is that no Indians had type A or type B blood from the ABO blood
group; they were all type O. This may be unrelated to immunity, but per-
haps some other, as yet unidentified, biological characteristic or genetic
trigger made them potential alcoholics. It is certain that alcohol creates an
imbalance of sugar, for which Indians had no genetic tolerance. Among
other peoples, this has led obesity, heart disease, and dependence. Never
having had liquor before, Indians were unable to control it.
192 THE BIRTH OF AMERICA