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The most powerful weapon of the Spanish conqueror was not a conventional military weapon at all. Justify the above statement by giving two reasons.

Answer:

Answer by Student

The most powerful weapon of the Spanish conqueror was not a conventional military weapon at all. 

  • It was the germs like smallpox that they carried on their person and spread deep into the continent before any European could reach there.

  • America’s original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe. These diseases wiped out whole communities, leading to their conquest. This biological warfare in the mid-sixteenth century made it easy for the Spanish to overpower the Americans.

Detailed Explanation by Teachoo

SMALLPOX OUTBREAK IN AMERICA (EXAMPLE OF BIOLOGICAL WARFARE) - Teachoo.jpg

Let’s justify the above statement by giving two reasons.

The Spanish conquerors invaded America in the sixteenth century. They were looking for gold and silver and also wanted to spread Christianity among the native people. They had superior weapons such as guns, cannons, and horses, which gave them an advantage over the local warriors.

  • The most powerful weapon of the Spanish conqueror was not a conventional military weapon at all. It was the germs such as those of smallpox t hat they carried on their person. These germs spread among the native people who had no immunity against them. As a result, millions of natives died due to diseases within a few years of the Spanish conquest.

  • The deaths of the native people due to diseases weakened their resistance and morale . It also created a shortage of labor for the Spanish colonizers, who then turned to importing slaves from Africa. Thus, the germs that the Spanish conquerors brought with them changed the demographic and social landscape of America forever.
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Davneet Singh

Davneet Singh has done his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has been teaching from the past 14 years. He provides courses for Maths, Science, Social Science, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science at Teachoo.