Ricardo López T - 20182265022

Sebastian Velez - 20182265035

Nicolás Sánchez - 20182265080

How Aztecs Reacted to Colonial epidemics

Introduction:

By the end of the XV century Spaniards discovered the continent of America, land that was
conquered and dominated, this is taught to all of us in our history class from an European
point of view, but something that we aren’t taught in schools is the history behind the native
tribes that once lived in that Euro-conquered land, and the despair and sorrow that the
colonization brought upon them.

Did you know?

Since history is taught from an European perspective, so are the tragedies and disgraces that
have befallen on them, little to no information is given on the aboriginal population and the
terrible life that they endured during the colonization and post-conquest.

Thesis statement:

The pestilence epidemic was able to help the Spaniards in the colonization, because the natives were
immunologically defenseless.

Virgin soil theory: The epidemics were so destructive because indigenous populations had no
previous contact with the diseases that brought the Europeans and were defenceless to these.

As the psychiatrist David Jones writes in the William & Mary Quarterly. The theory is still
widespread, often devolving into vague claims that indigenous people had “no immunity” to
the new epidemics.

Slavery, forced labor and wars: “Native communities were the main victims of this epidemic due to
their poverty, malnourishment, and harsh working conditions compared to the Spanish
population.”(Herzog)

Was the degradation of the indigenous peoples fault of the Spaniards?

A group of scholars wrote in the Latin American Colonial Journal that in the Mexican
colonies, "by the middle of the seventeenth century, many ... communities had failed,
population was drastically reduced, environmental degradation and economic collapse had
fallen victim." That is why today's scholars must emphasize The influence of colonial policy
was not the original soil theory, because the virgin soil theory changed the responsibility of
Europeans.