Why were native people of North America vulnerable to European diseases?
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Why were native people of North America vulnerable to European diseases?
Native Americans were also vulnerable during the colonial era because they had never been exposed to European diseases, like smallpox, so they didn’t have any immunity to the disease, as some Europeans did.
What diseases did the Europeans bring to North and South America?
Europeans brought deadly viruses and bacteria, such as smallpox, measles, typhus, and cholera, for which Native Americans had no immunity (Denevan, 1976).
How many natives were killed by European diseases?
European colonizers killed so many indigenous Americans that the planet cooled down, a group of researchers concluded. Following Christopher Columbus’ arrival in North America in 1492, violence and disease killed 90\% of the indigenous population — nearly 55 million people — according to a study published this year.
What disease did the American Indians carry which the Europeans had no resistance against?
Instead, Europeans were aided by a deadly secret weapon they weren’t even aware they were carrying: Smallpox.
What wiped out the Native American population?
When the Europeans arrived, carrying germs which thrived in dense, semi-urban populations, the indigenous people of the Americas were effectively doomed. They had never experienced smallpox, measles or flu before, and the viruses tore through the continent, killing an estimated 90\% of Native Americans.
How did European diseases affect the First Nations?
Throughout the Americas, Indigenous contact with Europeans was soon followed with drastic declines in Indigenous populations. With no natural immunity to diseases introduced by the Europeans, Indigenous Peoples were decimated by waves of epidemics of smallpox, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, influenza and measles.
How did the natives resist the Spanish?
Indians throughout the Americas resisted the Spanish by preserving aspects of their own cultures. They had tremendous advantages that Native Americans lacked, including superior weapons, immunity to Europeans diseases, and horses.