Native Americans: Life In Latin America Before The Europeans

Life in America before the Europeans arrived was inhabited by nomadic Indians that possibly migrated from Siberia and Southwest Europe. The nomadic Indian tribes relied on hunting and gathering food. As the climate changed and the extensive hunting of large animals forced the Indians to adapt to settling into villages. They built homes and grew simple crops such as corn and beans. They also created pottery to store their abundance of crops. The largest civilizations in North America were the Pueblo- Hohokam -Anasazi Indians of the southwest, the Aden-Hopewell Indians of the Ohio River Valley, and the Mississippians of the Mississippi River. In South America the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas developed more advanced civilizations. The Aztecs became wealthy due to vast resources of gold, silver, jewels and food. Large networks of trade developed between the tribes. Warfare among the tribes was also common. Men and women were stolen from other tribes for slavery and the Aztecs sacrificed people to the Gods.
Spain sent Hernan Cortes and six hundred men to America to gather the riches of land. They had gun powder and weapons that the Indian’s tomahawk and arrows could not compete with. The biggest devastation to the Indians was the introduction to diseases. The measles, mumps, and small pox destroyed whole villages. The Aztec with a population of about one million was conquered by Herman Cortes when he cut off water and food to the village. He allowed the small pox epidemic to destroy the village. The Aztec surrendered and Hernan Cortes took their gold and silver and sent it back to Spain. Spain established a sprawling empire in the “New