This is probably true, but you have to remember the difference in social system structure between then and now. We look at collective action different than it was, namely anachronistically, from our ingrained frame of reference. Indeed the really robust and resilient social system we have in place today (our entire lives) necesarily precludes the average thinker from empathizing with social system dynamics in other contemporary regions of the globe, as well as this geo-region in another time period. Even 50 years ago is absolutely so different it's frankly stunning let alone pre-strong central government, pre-high interconnected social-system America of today.

That being said, aboriginal Europeans didn't have to give the Native American populations poisonous articles like blankets. Not only would the novel pathogens decimate entire social systems DURING WARTIME, let alone peace time, but there were at a minimum 7 major novel pathogens all with mortality rates most likely above 50% to the Native population. If you combine pathology, with statistics, not a very difficult thing to do, the low-end mortality rate of the Native American population would be around 93% with a more likely figure approaching 97% and a high end figure of 99% being well within a standard deviation of likelihood.

Factor in war, social-system collapse, and extreme environmental elements on the continent and you have the literal definition of an apocalypse. I for one, don't know why this term isn't more widely used when referring to the Native Americans. An entire massive and sophisticated culture gone. And it's not coming back, even with our most sophisticated of science we can't understand what the Native American social system was like. Disease decimated them before before anyone could write anything down. Its extraordinary.

Their social system was probably more decentralized and dynamic than modern western polities, absolutely when compared to now (last 50 years), with our technology increasingly facilitating closer interconnectedness across the social system.

However when people say 70% mortality rate in the Americas from novel pathogens it's laughable. 70% from 1 novel pathogen of the seven. Were talking wave after wave of gruesome apocalyptic death literally sweeping across the continent coast to coast.

Paranthetically this is one of the reasons for the thought process culminating in the phrase Manifest Destiny. People were not in control of this phenomena. We were not in control of biological pathologies, hence the 'destiny', manifest as in all you had to do if you were Aboriginal European was see some unseen force literally whipe the entire continent clean for your occupation.

Come across a surviving band of American Indigineous? Then they get whiped out too, it must have been extraordinary to see this happen from the Aboriginal European prospective. From the perspective of the 50-70 million Native Americans it must have been something quite different, and quite horrible to experience.

70%? ridiculous low-end statistical figure.