WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Spaniards and Portuguese did not want to work in the fields; they wanted to own the fields. European diseases had wiped out indigenous populations, and conversion to Christianity made some indigenous peoples exempt from certain types of forced labor. As a result, Europeans looked to Africa for a new source of workers.

Detailed explanation-2: -According to one theory, the origins of syphilis in Europe can be traced to Columbus and his crew, who were believed to have acquired Treponema pallidum, the bacteria that cause syphilis, from natives of Hispaniola and carried it back to Europe, where some of them later joined Charles’ army.

Detailed explanation-3: -Why didn’t the Europeans suffer equally from American diseases? The Europeans came from mixed races, had mingled with many different nationalities so had a better stock of antibodies to cope with disease.

Detailed explanation-4: -As Native peoples travel waterways by canoe to trade and share news, they unknowingly take the germs to neighboring tribes. Measles, mumps, chickenpox, smallpox, diphtheria, influenza, pneumonia, typhoid, and the common cold reach Florida and Cuba and begin their deadly march through populations across the hemisphere.