CatastropheThe 16th century

Catastrophe in the 16th century

Every event in the Terralore archive tagged catastrophe — plague, famine, earthquake and other disasters, narrowed to the 16th century — 3 of them, drawn from 3 nations, running from 1500 to 1520. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.

Events
3
Nations
3
Earliest
1500
Latest
1520

Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.

  1. — North America:

    Haiti

    Collapse of the Taino

    Forced labour, violence, and Old World disease devastate the Indigenous population within a generation of contact.

    Era: Quisqueya: The Taino and Spanish Hispaniola

    Sources: History of Haiti · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Columbus and the Taino · Library of Congress

  2. — North America:

    Bahamas

    Depopulation of the Bahamas

    By about 1520 enslavement and disease had all but exterminated the Lucayans; the islands were left effectively abandoned for more than a century.

    Era: The Lucayans and Columbus's landfall

    Sources: How Archaeologists Are Unearthing the Secrets of the Bahamas' First Inhabitants · Smithsonian Magazine, Bahamas: Local History and Genealogy — Research Guide · Library of Congress, The Bahamas — British colonization (History) · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  3. — North America:

    Cuba

    Collapse of the Taino

    Forced labour, starvation, and Old World disease all but extinguish the indigenous Taino, prompting the import of enslaved Africans.

    Era: The Taino and the Spanish Conquest

    Sources: Taino · Encyclopaedia Britannica