America Before Columbus: A Synthesis Essay

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In the years of 1492-1520, the Spanish Empire conquered two of the largest empires in the Americas, the Aztec civilization and the Inca civilization. But it wasn’t just about battles and taking land, it was also about the large number of natives killed, which can now be identified as genocide. Many authors have written articles and books after analyzing old diaries and old scripture in this era. Charles Mann in "1491: America before Columbus'' tells us about how advanced and big the societies in the Americas were before the Europeans came. This is very important because it shows that defeating and taking over the lands there wasn't easy since they were strong societies. Noah Harari's "Why Europe'' talks about why the Europeans wanted to explore …show more content…
Jared Diamond, who wrote "Guns, Germs, and Steel” talks about how the Spanish had advanced weapons like guns and steel swords, which were way stronger compared to the native weapons. The indigenous weapons were made of stone, wood, and bone, giving the Spanish a better advantage in battle. However, he also states that it wasn't just the advanced weapons that made the Spanish stronger, it was also the diseases that they brought with them when they came to the Americas. Diseases like smallpox were very deadly because the native people had never faced them before and many got very sick and died. The smallpox spread rapidly, causing horrible outbreaks that wiped out a lot of natives, which made it easier for the Spanish to gain control and conquer. The book also talks about how when the Spanish came to the Americas, they didn't just fight everyone. Instead, they made friends with some local tribes. This was really smart because these tribes didn't like being ruled by the Aztecs, who were apparently very tough rulers. So when the Spanish showed up, these tribes saw a chance to get back to the Aztecs. By teaming up with these local tribes, the Spanish got a lot of
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