Was Disease a key factor

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I believe disease was a key factor if not the primary factor in the depopulation of Native Americans in the Americas. Throughout time, there has always been inequality during the evolution of humanity. Over the course of evolution, different cultures as well as races have progressed more rapidly and at a stronger rate than others have. The depopulation of Native Americans happened because Europeans had better and more efficient supplies as well as immunities to the diseases that they brought over with them. While the Europeans were traveling to the New World, they often brought domesticated animals with them for sources of food and livestock. When animals and humans are living in close quarters together, it is very likely for exposure to germs to occur. New diseases were brought over by foreigners looking for fame and gold that killed off many of the natives in the new lands. The natives did not stand a chance against these new threats because of a lack of knowledge and supplies to cure themselves. Once the Europeans established diseases as they made land in the New World, their journey had only become easier as their competition were being wiped out from the rapid spread. Microbes from Europe introduced new diseases and produced devastating epidemics that swept through the native populations (Nichols 2008). The result from the diseases brought over, such as smallpox, was a demographic catastrophe that killed millions of people, weakened existing societies, and greatly aided the Spanish and Portuguese in their rapid and devastating conquest of the existing American empires (Brinkley 2014). Interaction took place with the arrival of whites and foreigners. The first and perhaps most profound result of this exchange was the imp... ... middle of paper ... ...ails are lost to history, and the cultural changes are immeasurable (Snipp 1989). The rapid spread of new disease took the lives of millions. Native Americans stood no chance, as they had no treatment or ways to fight these diseases. Works Cited Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History Of The America People. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2014 Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999. Nichols, L. Roger. The American Indian: Past and Present. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of the University, 2008. Snipp, C. Matthew. American Indians: The First of this Land. Russell Sage Foundation, 1989. Thornton, Russell. American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of the University, 1987.

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