The oldest known Neanderthal bones date to about 430,000 years ago, but most date from between 130,000 and 40,000 years ago. There are many theories about what caused the ultimate demise of Neanderthal, but one thing is for certain – Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens (modern humans) often encountered one another. The population of Homo Sapiens grew exponentially in what is modern day Germany and western Europe about the same time that Neanderthal was going extinct (40 to 50,000 years ago).
Archaeologists cite numerous theories as to the causes of the demise of Neanderthal. Among them, a low proliferation rate compared to their new competitor, Homo Sapiens. Homo Sapiens have always been a fertile species and now numbers nearly 8 billion across the globe. Neanderthal had a much lower birthrate as well as some other genetic disadvantages. There is evidence that there was interbreeding between the species, particularly from mitochondrial DNA (Human father, Neanderthal mother). This may reflect the likelihood that Homo Sapien tribes simply overwhelmed Neanderthal tribes. This is a common occurrence throughout human history as conquering tribes of humans often either raped and impregnated or took females from the conquered group as mates with their offspring being absorbed into the new tribe.
History has traditionally been recorded by “the winners.” Archaeologists don’t find a lot of written material from societies that were eventually absorbed into other cultures. The history of ancient and medieval battles and wars are traditionally recorded, retained and embellished by the victors. That is, until late 20th century U.S. when history departments as well as other liberal arts studies began to focus more on the “losers.” “Losers” in this context doesn’t imply bad people who made bad decisions as is the modern pop-culture definition, it simply means that they were dominated and absorbed by a stronger, more technologically advanced society. When the Muslim armies from the Saudi Arabian peninsula conquered and made subservient much of north Africa and central Asia in the 7th and 8th centuries, the cultures of those peoples were largely lost and replaced by an Islam-centered culture. Likewise, when the Normans invaded the British Isles from northern France in 1066, the culture of England changed forever.
If Native Americans along the Atlantic coast had simply slaughtered every group of Europeans that landed, it would surely have deterred European colonization. But the recognition of this new threat would likely have resulted in tribal consolidation which might have been equally devastating to North American tribes. The Aztecs, for example were more technologically advanced than their northern cousins and as ruthless as their European counterparts. The idea that Native American tribes would have lived a peaceful existence forever, if not for the arrival of Europeans is simply not consistent with human history.
Five hundred years later and North America might well be in an entirely new population shift. Only time will tell if European Americans in the U.S. are in the beginning stages of being simply overwhelmed by migrating populations from Central and South America. According to Pew Research, the Hispanic population in the U.S. has grown from 9.6 million in 1970 to 62.1 million in 2020. They’ve grown from being 5% of the population to at least 19%, as many may not have been counted in the most recent census.
These numbers are already resulting in political shifts in the U.S. and if the migration trend continues, Hispanics may ultimately have significant political control. It remains to be seen if they embrace the European influenced democratic republic form of governance, or if that will be replaced by some new form of government.
What will ultimately become of European Americans? Will they accept their minority status and dwindle in population over time? Will there be a white migration to Canada or back to Europe? Will things turn ugly with whites being murdered in large numbers like we saw in Rhodesia post-Apartheid? When faced with an overwhelming invasion (military or migratory), a society’s choices are a) best case: stay and be absorbed, b) worst case: stay and be slaughtered, or c) migrate. That’s what Homo Sapiens do. Just ask the Neanderthals.