please respond to Calie. with 200. words. Discussion Forum Topic Week 1 Columb

please respond to Calie. with 200. words.
Discussion Forum Topic Week 1
Columbus’ men and other colonizers saw and experienced many biological and environmental issues caused by nature that they did not expect to find in the New World. Their mindsets were set on expansion, gold, and riches. With this as their focus, it seemed that they were not prepared for what was to come from living in a new area, with new challenges, and people occupying the land first.
One biological issue that brought many deaths in the New World was sicknesses and diseases that were brought from Columbus’ men and other colonizers from the Old World. Native American’s did not have the antibodies capable to fight off these diseases that were new to their bodies. Though there was a lot of different diseases that spread through the Native Americans, smallpox was one of the worst and most deadly that spread through them. This epidemic lasted nearly 400 years or more and declined Native Americans at such a fast rate (Crosby, 292). Native American’s were essential for Columbus’s men and other colonizers, but it was clear they could not see that at the time with the mass murder that was placed on the Natives. With diseases like smallpox killing off thousands of Natives and the genocide of the Natives that took place, Columbus, his men, and the other colonizers did not realize just how important the Natives truly were to their survival.
One big environmental issue that caused issues for Columbus’ men and other colonizers was the different plants and agriculture in the New World. Columbus was set on gold, and he had visions and thoughts that it was going to be growing in fields. When Columbus met the Arawak Indians, he saw that they had a developed agriculture of corn, yams, and cassava (Zinn, 5). This led Columbus to capture some of the Arawak’s and took them upon his ship as prisoners, thinking he could force them to show him where the gold was (Zinn, 5). This hunger for gold and riches, led him to make false promises to the King and Queen back in Spain and brought some trouble for Columbus. Not only did he give false promises of gold, but he also caused wars and killings because of enslaving the Natives. Columbus saw this agriculture a price, but it was not the value he expected it to be.
Columbus and other colonizers coming to the New World were in search of wealth, power, and expansion. Them coming to the New World caused many issues for themselves and the Native Americans who were living there. Some major issues were epidemics and agriculture, that led to many problems for Columbus, the colonizers, and the Natives.
Works Cited
Crosby, Alfred W. “Virgin soil epidemics as a factor in the Aboriginal depopulation in America.”
The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 2, Apr. 1976, pp. 289–299,
https://doi.org/10.2307/1922166.
Zinn, Howard. “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress.” A People’s History of the United States, Harper, New York, New York, 2017, pp. 3–16.