Socially, the European explorers forced Indians to convert to Christianity and decimated the Native Population. On June 30, 1520, Hernan Cortez gathered a force of 20,000 Indian Allies and marched to Tenochtitlan, the Aztec Capital, bringing the smallpox disease with them. The Aztec greeted Cortez with gifts as they believed him to be a god, but eventually the Spanish began demanding gold and the Aztec attacked the Spanish and they retreated. They later returned and sieged the city and Cortez had control in 1521. It is estimated that Cortez was the cause of 240,000 Aztec deaths, not including the deaths of those who died because of smallpox. Before Cortez arrived the native population was believed to be around 25 to 30 million, 50 years after Cortez the native population was reduced to 3 million, mainly due to diseases. The Europeans also brought their religion, Christianity, to the New World. In 1769, Spanish missionaries founded at San Diego the first of a chain of 21 missions that wound up the coast as far as Sonoma. These missions essentially were built to force …show more content…
The Iroquois Confederation was a group of 5 tribes in New York state. Each tribe still kept their independence, but would meet occasionally to discuss common matters of interests, like war and defence. They wanted to protect themselves