The arrival of the Spanish in the Americas brought more than a clash of peoples and cultures. It also brought a movement of plants, animals, and diseases between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. This movement of living things between hemispheres is called the Columbian Exchange.
One result of the Columbian Exchange was the transfer of germs from Europe to the Americas. When Europeans came to America, they brought with them germs that caused diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza. Native Americans had no immunity to them.
Although exact numbers are unknown, historians estimate that diseases brought by Europeans killed more than 20 million Native
Americans in Mexico in the first century after conquest. Many scholars agree that
One result of the Columbian Exchange was the transfer of germs from Europe to the Americas. When Europeans came to America, they brought with them germs that caused diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza. Native Americans had no immunity to them.
Although exact numbers are unknown, historians estimate that diseases brought by Europeans killed more than 20 million Native
Americans in Mexico in the first century after conquest. Many scholars agree that