Study GuideU.S. History I–The “New World”1. European ContactWhen Europeans arrived in North America, the experience for Native peoples wasdifferent from—but still devastating compared to—the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires. Whilethe changes were not always immediate or dramatic everywhere, European contact leftthree majorlegaciesfor Native American tribes:1.Disease2.Horses and other domesticated animals3.Metal tools and firearmsTogether, these changes reshaped Native societies in lasting ways.1.1Disease: The Greatest ImpactThemost serious threatNative peoples faced was not European weapons—it wasdisease. BeforeEuropean contact, the Western Hemisphere had very few infectious diseases. Native populations hadno natural immunityto illnesses common in Europe.Diseases such as:•Smallpox•Measles•Mumps•Diphtheriaspread rapidly and killed large numbers of people.Smallpox was the deadliest, and it often spreadfar beyond the first European contacts. Trade between tribes helped carry disease from village tovillage.In some regions,up to 90 percent of the Native population diedfrom disease. In extreme cases,entire tribes disappeared so completely that their existence was forgotten for centuries. For example:•Tribes along the lower Mississippi River were wiped out by diseases brought by Spanishexplorers traveling the Gulf Coast.Preview Mode
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