Native American Genocide Research Paper

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Native American genocide has been going on since 1490, and acts of discrimination and violence are still going against them to this day. Around 12,000 years ago, some nomadic Asians traveled across a land bridge connecting Alaska to Asia. These 50 million people would soon become known as the Native Americans. Christopher Columbus proposed an idea to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. He wanted money and boats to go on a voyage to Asia on the West instead of the East. His logic was that instead of sailing around a massive African continent, you could sail right on the west side to get to east Asia. His math was very incorrect though, he believed the Earth was much smaller than it really was, and obviously didn’t know about North America. Yet …show more content…
territory. But by 1900, the number had reduced to less than 300,000” (“Atrocities against Native Americans”). There were many reasons for the genocides and deaths of Native Americans. One example, and the most significant for their deaths, was disease. Most Native Americans were not immune to diseases spread by animals such as cows, pigs, horses, and sheep. Millions were killed by diseases like influenza, whooping cough, scarlet fever, bubonic plague, diphtheria, syphilis, typhus, and cholera. The settlers spread the diseases by giving out blankets previously owners by contaminated people. Columbus murdered and enslaved millions, who could had the potential for something so much greater. He would even cut off the hands of the Natives over 14 years old, and work them to death. Colonists could even get paid to kill them; 50 for adult male, 25 for adult female, and 20 for a child(under 12).This went on for a very long time, until King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella “sent in a royal administrator, who detained Columbus and his brothers and had them shipped home”(“Columbus Controversy”) where he died an old

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