yogthos, 11 months ago

That’s just false. This was done with conscious intent, and this is actually documented. For example, Amherst said in a letter to Bouquet that ‘This is a good idea to spread smallpox just be careful you don’t get it yourself, You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race.’

The text of Amherst’s letter reads;

“You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race. I should be very glad your scheme for hunting them down by dogs could take effect, but England is at too great a distance to think of that at present,” wrote Amherst in a 1763 letter.

d’Errico wrote in his study of Amherst that “None of these other letters show a deranged mind or an obsession with cruelty.” Amherst’s “venom” was only directed at Indigenous peoples, he added.