Enjoyed the ill-fated discussion you were having over on THR (it was directed over here). You may have already read it, but if you haven't, you should read Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond.
Great book and it totally explains the reasons for the way things played out as the Eurasian folks took over the rest of the world.
If I remember right, Diamond maintains that close to 90 percent of Native Americans were wiped out by diseases brought by the immigrants. The diseases actually spread faster than the folks that brought the diseases and a huge percentage of the Native people were dead from the diseases before they actually met the people who brought the diseases.
Fascinating book that explains so much.
Hope you find this.
