They were a more isolated human, so when the Europeans came and took over there immune systems were not at all prepared to face and fight back al;l the diseases that came there way. The European diseases were communicable and that therefore caused these illnesses to move faster and to cause death tolls to rise even faster than ever before. In some cases Indians were infected severely before even coming into direct association with the Europeans. The one disease that really got the Indians by the neck was smallpox. This disease killed tens of thousands of Indians in the New World.
Imported diseases took the worst tolls in less populated areas like the Aztec and Inca empires. These diseases were so easily transmissible that they hit areas before the first European explorers even arrived in the areas. When the epidemic diseases finally arrived in the Pacific islands, it had the same terrifying affects as the Americas. When it came to food and crops, the Columbian exchange increased the human population because of the spread of food crops and animals that it sponsored. A nourished world was an important factor in the growth of the world’s population, which began in the 18th century.
The Spanish forcefully took control of the empire and brutally murdered the emperor (Inca Empire - Google Sites). The Spanish arrived in 1532 on the conquest of Peru led by Francisco Pizarro in the city of Cajamarca and they were probably interested in the Inca empire due to it astonishing high economy (Inca Empire - Google Sites). The Spanish only came with 110 men and 67 horsemen and met with the Sapa Inca Atahualpa who thought that the meeting was peaceful and that the Spanish were showing their respect to him (The Fall of the Inca Empire). However, his belief was proven incorrect very quickly when he got captured for not swearing loyalty to the King of Spain and Pope and throwing the bible on the floor. The Spanish then went on to kill and capture Incan soldiers and Atahualpa probably realised then that the Spanish were after gold and silver and were not there for peace.
Virgin-soil epidemics are the deadliest phenomena ever experienced by humankind. The cataclysmic effects of virgin-soil epidemics struck Native American societies just as they faced the threat of European invasion. None of this could have occurred at a worse time for the Americans. The varities of domesticated animals and infectious diseases that jumped back and forth form animals to humans were more numerous in the old world than the new. Many migrated west across Eurasia with animals or people, or were brought by traders from
They would give them items such as alcohol, guns, textiles, metal tools, and pots in return for the elite furs. As the demand for furs rose, they began to corrupt the nature of animals that the Indians followed. Unknowingly the French also killed many natives through illness; the goods that the French offered to the natives carried diseases and led to the death of many Indians because of their lack of immunity. The relationship between the Spanish colonists and the Indians was a callous one and only benefited the Spanish. In the 1500s, the Spanish arrived in the New World with the intent to convert natives to Catholicism, trade, and discover riches.
How it affected their people and some of the surrounding people and justification by the Spanish for war against the Aztecs. Secondly, what the Aztecs believed to be the return of the god Quetzalcoatl, the Spanish conquistador, Cortes and his Spanish army. Disease played a huge part in the fall. Small pox brought upon the Spanish spread quickly to the people and no cure for the disease was known therefore leading to many deaths. Lastly, the skillful tactics used by Hernan Cortes that leads to the surrender of the last Aztec emperor.
One of the explanations Keeley gives for the some of the successes of primitive warriors against civilized armies were superior numbers and the enemy being caught in the open. The difference in numbers were so extraordinary that the superior weapons of the civilized armies had no effect. He brings up the American example of The Battle of Little Bighorn. The Battle of Little Bighorn demonstrated how the numerically superior Sioux and Cheyenne caught 200 men in the open. (92) The 200 men of the U.S. Army were massacred by the 1,800 strong force of native warriors.
With the trading of the Columbian Exchange, diseases were increasing and affecting both the Americas and Europe. The Europeans brought multiple new diseases to the Native American population, smallpox being a major known disease. Wiping out two-thirds of the Native American population, they weren’t used to the infectious disease being brought with domesticated animals. With the impact of diseases not being as effective on Europe as it was for the Americas, Europe could withstand it. Also demographically, the start of sugar plantations and silver mines was another major effect on the Native Americans.
After an initial wave of conquistadors, Spain advantages was that the military had aided and infected diseases that decimated the native populations and defeated the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. Spain organized a huge imperial system to exploit the land, labor, and mineral wealth of the New World. Their disadvantage was that when they were conquering Maya, because of the Yucatan jungle, their metal weapons would rust. Spain treated the Native American very badly like they were animals. For example, altogether, they execute a large group of people such as the Natives in Cuba, Dominica, and Mexico, and those who weren’t in the massacre was turned into slaves; and those whoever refused to convert to Christianity.
For example, during the French and Indian War, British commander and chief Jeffery Amherst suggested using smallpox to wipe out the Native Americans (D'Errico, 2010). When these new disease were introduced, the shaman or medicine men were baffled and unable to heal the ailments. As a result of the natives’ shaman being unable to cure their people of these diseases, the natives began not to believe in their healing powers. However, many of the indigenous that did not fall to disease, were captured for slavery. Many people believe that slavery of the Native Americans was a result of the Europeans colonizing the New World, but it was not.