the exploration of America severely harmed the native population by causing the decline in population and weakening the peoples rights by Bernice Liang

forced conversions and loss of culture

liangber3 — 2024-09-17 14:30:36 UTC

This image displays the spanish missionaries that have been sent to America to convert the indigenous people to christianity. Spain is devote christian state, they set out in to the new world with a goal of conversion. They desired to convert the native Americans form their "savage" ways and to more western civilized manners. The conversion had a negative impact on the indigenous as it, the baptisms and conversions were forced and the Spanish didn't allow them to retain any of their own culture.

Treaty of tordesillas

liangber3 — 2024-09-17 16:31:01 UTC

The treaty of Tordesillas is a document that decreed which Iberian countries get which parts of the new world. the treaty divided the Americas with an imaginary line, on the west is Spanish territory and on the east is Portuguese territory. this agreement was between the European factions and did not include the native American countries nor people, this gave the Europeans the "right" to colonize parts of America and destroy indigenous kingdoms

The Encomienda system

liangber3 — 2024-09-17 16:42:34 UTC

The Encomienda system was a hierarchy that divided the people who lived in America based on heritage and land of birth. the full Spanish men born in the Iberian peninsula were regarded as the better while those such as native Americans and Africans were lesser. because of this system native Americans were treated worse and it the system allowed for a loophole for the Spanish to use indigenous people as slaves, this is seen in the graphic above that states that they endure long and harsh conditions while working and don't get paid either. these harsh working conditions that the indigenous never had to experience left them starving and exhausted making it easier for them to die.

Diseases and Death

liangber3 — 2024-09-17 23:18:10 UTC

This drawing displays the suffering of the indigenous people from small pox. One of the main contributions to the decline of the indigenous population during the age of exploration was the diseases brought to the Americas by the Europeans. The Indigenous people of America had been isolated for the rest of the world and had no immunity to any old world diseases such as smallpox. Since the indigenous people had no immunity to the diseases they were dying from the old world diseases rapidly and by the lot. many native tribes lost around 50% of their population due to smallpox alone. with this decline in population it weakened their tribes and allowed for the Europeans to be able to colonize the Americas easier.

Potosi mountains

liangber3 — 2024-09-18 14:02:54 UTC

the Potosi mountains contained large quantities of silver that made up the majority of the silver that circulated around the world. To obtain the silver the Spanish made indigenous people and Africans work and mine in the Potosi mountains. The work was long and laborious. many people died and up to 8 million native americans lost their lives from the Potosi mines. While the Potosi mountain brought immense fortune to traders and the Spanish, the mines contributed to the declining populations of indigenous peopl.