“The Taino genocide (1492-1518) is where the Spanish wiped out most of the Tainos (Arawaks), the native people of the northern Caribbean (present-day Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, etc). Columbus himself set it in motion and oversaw it till 1500.
According to one estimate, genocide and disease wiped out 3 million of the 3.5 million Tainos – 85%. Most were already dead when smallpox arrived in 1518.
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I read about this in a community college history book.
See on abagond.wordpress.com