Dbq Native Americans

Words: 1409
Pages: 6

Prior to the contact between European colonists and the Native Americans, there were several communities of Native Americans established in North America. Historians believe that these groups had trickled down from the Siberian or Russian regions. They had lived in groups, searching for whatever scarce food they could find, and through hunting, they had followed the Bering Strait and travelled south. The Olmec people were some of the first to settle in North America, establishing the fundamentals of classes, especially an elite class. Additionally, the Mayans solidified their language, their calendar, and a written mathematical system. The Incan Empire lived in Peru and Chile and not only used quipu to document but held a similar system to …show more content…
It played “a much greater role in the city’s demise than did the Spanish force of arms.” (Corbett 2). For example, the Timucua tribe had a majority of their tribe killed due to these diseases, from 200,000 Natives before Spanish contact to only 1,000 in the year 1700 (Corbett 3). “In the 1630s, half the Huron and Iroquois around the Great Lakes died of smallpox” (Corbett 3). These are examples of the disastrous effects the Spanish colonization had on the Native population. Due to decreased population, Native armed forces were weakened, only making European colonization easier. In addition to these diseases, the Spanish also exchanged materials with the Natives. The Spanish brought with them glass beads, copper kettles, and other metal utensils. “Native people often adapt these items for their own use. For example, some cut up copper kettles and refashioned the metal for other uses, including jewelry that conferred status on the wearer, who was seen as connected to the new European source of raw materials.” (Corbett 3). Because the Europeans had introduced these different metals, they were also incorporated into their weapons, which only made wars more deadly (Corbett