What were the causes of the decline and deaths of Native American populations after 1492? Which causes were most influential in causing the declines and deaths of Native American populations after 1492?

Question

What, if any, actions did or could these Native American populations have taken to arrest their decline and prevent their deaths on massive scale?

Answer 1

Answer: An ideal answer will:
1. Discuss and evaluate the impact that smallpox, measles, and other diseases, particularly the former, had on causing the decline and deaths of the Tainos, the Aztecs, and the Incas.
2. Discuss and evaluate the impact that the ruthless skill, as well as deceptions, of Cortés and Pizarro and the Spanish armies' mastery of guns, steel swords, armor, and horses had on the ability of the Aztecs and the Incas to resist Spanish aggression.
3. Discuss and evaluate how the Aztec resistance was hampered by a sense of fatalism fueled by early visions of their own defeat.
4. Discuss and evaluate the extent to which non-Aztecs joining Cortés and his Spanish army had on the decline and defeat of the Aztec Empire.
5. Identify nonresistant European diseases as the most significant cause and the military strength and skills as the second-most significant cause for the decline of the specified Native American tribes and empires with disease being the most influential cause.
6. Discuss and analyze the intensity of armed resistance offered by the Aztecs, Incas, and Tainos tribes and assert that there was nothing that these Native Americans could do to lessen the impact of these deadly nonresistant European diseases.
7. Write a concise and effective conclusion.