The Conquest of the Americas
The Conquest of the Americas:
Upon realizing that the New World was not, in fact, the Far East, the Europeans had begun their conquest of the Americas. Several Spanish and Portuguese adventurers were on a mission to conquer the native places in the Americas. Some of the conquerors involved were on a mission to introduce Christianity to the Americas, while most of the people did it for the gold. With just a few hundred men, the Spanish were able to bring down and control the mighty Aztec and Inca, powerful Empires with armies in the thousands. How were they able to do it? The weapons and armor of the conquistadors had a lot to do with their success. Columbus and his followers came to the New World and their visit caused a lot of negative effects and even some positive effects.
The arrival of Columbus in the New World brought about several introductions in the plant and animal life of the Americas. A lot of unfamiliar diseases were introduced and many natives were destroyed by it due to the fact they were accustom to their almost disease free environment. They had no form of immunity that was able to combat the new diseases. Diseases such as typhoid, smallpox, measles, yellow fever, bubonic plaque and more were some of the new diseases and they were an equal exchange of diseases between the Native Americans and other people. The introduction of new animals were good for the New World, especially that fact that horses were introduced and this helped in future conquests as seen with Cortez as the horses helped him to be successful in his conquest. The animals also became of part of the regular diet of native people, and some animals became wild as they were in a new environment, one to which they were not accustom. The plants also became apart of the regular diet of the native people. Miscegenation also occurred as there was an introduction of new races and a mixture of these races occurred for instance the white and the blacks mixed and produced mulatto
Upon realizing that the New World was not, in fact, the Far East, the Europeans had begun their conquest of the Americas. Several Spanish and Portuguese adventurers were on a mission to conquer the native places in the Americas. Some of the conquerors involved were on a mission to introduce Christianity to the Americas, while most of the people did it for the gold. With just a few hundred men, the Spanish were able to bring down and control the mighty Aztec and Inca, powerful Empires with armies in the thousands. How were they able to do it? The weapons and armor of the conquistadors had a lot to do with their success. Columbus and his followers came to the New World and their visit caused a lot of negative effects and even some positive effects.
The arrival of Columbus in the New World brought about several introductions in the plant and animal life of the Americas. A lot of unfamiliar diseases were introduced and many natives were destroyed by it due to the fact they were accustom to their almost disease free environment. They had no form of immunity that was able to combat the new diseases. Diseases such as typhoid, smallpox, measles, yellow fever, bubonic plaque and more were some of the new diseases and they were an equal exchange of diseases between the Native Americans and other people. The introduction of new animals were good for the New World, especially that fact that horses were introduced and this helped in future conquests as seen with Cortez as the horses helped him to be successful in his conquest. The animals also became of part of the regular diet of native people, and some animals became wild as they were in a new environment, one to which they were not accustom. The plants also became apart of the regular diet of the native people. Miscegenation also occurred as there was an introduction of new races and a mixture of these races occurred for instance the white and the blacks mixed and produced mulatto