Impact Of European Colonization On Native Americans

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European exploration and colonization was immensely impactful on the lives of the Native Americans. Before the arrival of European explorers, Native Americans had developed their own complex culture. Native Americans showed that they were more than just indigenous barbarians by building magnificent pyramids, creating calendars, implementing superior farming practices, and designing larger cities. Native Americans also lived a more healthy lifestyle through frequent bathing, unlike the Europeans. European arrival quickly changed the Native American lifestyle; Native American’s had previously been isolated from the rest of the world due to the distance set by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. European colonization of the Americas took away …show more content…

Native Americans had previously remained isolated and healthy, as the rest of the world was ransacked by diseases like the Black Death. Europeans had been able to build up their immune system to these diseases; the Natives had never encountered European diseases like mumps and smallpox. Native Americans were left “immunologically defenseless” against the volatile European diseases (Document 6). Document 6 was written by a historian, which would explain why he is better able to write from a less biased view of the colonization of the Americas, as well as how he understands the consequences diseases had on the Native population. Although Europeans were not always purposely infecting the Native American population, the introduction of new diseases is what led to the Native population to decline by 82%. Diseases began to “spread during October” throughout major civilizations like the Aztecs and the Incas, where the disease “lasted for seventy days, striking everywhere in the cities and killing a vast number of [Native] people” (Document 4). Document 4 was written in the point of view of the Aztecs, one of the several Native American tribes to be victimized by disease. The Native 's’ point of view is significant because readers will better be able to understand the lasting impact the disease had on the Native population. Native civilizations like the Aztecs with Tenochtitlan had cities bigger in size than most European cities. This caused the disease to spread rapidly and stunted production in Native American tribes. Diseases weakened the Native population, further preventing them from attempting to abstain the Europeans’

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