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Impact Of European Colonization On Native Americans

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The European Colonization of the Americas initiated in 1492 when Spanish explorer and navigator, Christopher Columbus sailed the sea to the New World. Their main motivation was to probe new trade routes, spread Catholicism and earn recognition and stardom for discoveries made similar to the findings that came from the conquest of the Aztecs and Incas. The English then established permanent settlement in the New World and interacted with the indigenous people that were already living there. This was found to have a detrimental effect on the Native Americans because Europeans brought dangerous diseases such as smallpox to the Americas. Also, natives were imperialized, forced to give up their vibrant culture and take up the lifestyle of the Spaniards.

Primarily, one of the impacts that came about from the European colonization on Native Americans was the proliferation of disease. In Europe, people commonly lived in filth and bacteria because they didn’t pay much attention to the importance of proper hygiene. However, in the Americas, people were isolated from the rest of the world and weren’t surrounded by the rubbish that Europeans had incorporated in their livelihood. Also, because the Native Americans were somewhat advanced in medical technology, they didn’t have to worry too much about people dying from treacherous diseases. It states, “ By contrast, the people of the Americas had spent thousand of years in biological isolation. By the time Columbus had arrived,

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