Spanish Conquest of the Americas

The Spanish conquest of the Americas should be referred to as the "American Holocaust". Over   the   course   of   a   century   hundreds   of   thousands   of   natives   died   due   to   the   violence,   famine,   and   epidemics   caused   by   the   Spanish. Many   natives   were   also   enslaved   and   made   to   work   for   the   Spanish. All   in   all   because   of   the   cruelty   of   the   Spanish   during   their   conquest,   great   empires   fell   and   many   natives   lost   their   lives.
  The   Spanish   conquest   of   the   Americas   began   in   the   beginning   of   the   16th   century. The   first   stages   of   the   invasion   were   extremely   violent. Armies   led   by   conquistadors   went   from   island   to   island   plundering   villages,   slaughtering   men,   and   capturing   the   women. Many   natives   were   also   put   to   work   as   slaves   to   support   the   system   of   encomienda,   where   colonial   lords   were   given   natives   as   a   source   of   labor. For   the   next   fifteen   years   the   Spanish   raided   many   islands   in   the   Caribbean,   and   completely   depopulating   them   and   depleting   the   islands   of   gold. By   1519   the   Spanish   began   to   move   inland   into   Mexico. In   1521   Hernan   Cortes   overthrew   the   Aztec   empire   because   of   their   advantages   in   weaponry,   steel,   horses,   and   diseases   especially   smallpox. Thousands   of   Aztecs   died   from   smallpox   and   the   Spanish   unmercifully   plundered   the   Aztec   society. Later   the   discovery   of   rich   silver   mines   with   the   native   labor   of   the   encomienda   system   made   Spain   the   wealthiest   state   in   Europe.
  European   diseases   by   themselves   took   the   lives   of   thousands   of   natives. Famines   caused   by   ruined   economies   and   plundering   of   the   Spanish   also   killed   thousands   and   native   birth   rates   fell. These   effects   of   the   Spanish   conquest   knocked   down   the   native   population   by   90   percent. The   intercontinental   exchange   between   the   New   World   and   the   Old   World   included   not...