Furthermore, The Columbian Exchange impacted the Native American population by bringing deadly diseases as well as destroying their home when the Europeans found the New World. First off, “The harsh working conditions under the system contributed to a drastic decline in the Native American population,” (17.3 RNA, pg.1). This quote shows how Spanish landowners took full use of a system called the encomienda system, which forced Native Americans to pay off taxes and provide labor. To add on, many Native Americans died during the recovery of the United States. This states that in a graph by a Cherokee-American anthropologist, Russell Thornton, there is a significant decrease in the Native American population over several years because of how their culture was targeted by Europeans, as the recovery of the United States starts happening. Russell Thornton published this in his book “American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492,” which oversimplifies the decline of the Native American