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The greatest adversary to the natives in the Americas was not the swords or guns of the invaders. It was the devastation brought by deadly diseases infecting an unsuspecting population that had no immunity to such diseases.
The Europeans were said to be thoroughly diseased by the time Columbus set sail on his first voyage (Cowley, 1991). Through the domestication of such animals as pigs, horses, sheep, and cattle, the Europeans exposed themselves to a vast array of pathogens which continued to be spread through wars, explorations, and city-building. Thus any European who crossed the Atlantic was immune to such diseases as measles and smallpox because of battling them as a child.
The original inhabitants traveled to the New World in groups of a couple hundred each. Because microbes such as the ones that cause measles and smallpox need populations of several million to survive, the original populations were unaffected by the deadly diseases. However, by the time Columbus arrived,......

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Approximate Pages: 6 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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