Read this quote: "Before Spanish arrival there is estimated to be about 60 million people in the Americas. After Spanish arrival this population shrank to about 6 million people." Using evidence from the quotation, which statement correctly analyzes the effectiveness of Spanish colonial rule?
A. Colonial rule was weakened by decreases in the Indigenous population because there were fewer people to work in the colonies.
B. Colonial rule was strengthened by indigenous population decrease because it meant they could focus less on the unpopular social caste system
C. Colonial rule was weakened by decreases in the indigenous population because it led to more resistance to Spanish Colonial rule
D. Colonial rule was strengthened by decreases in the indigenous population because it meant they would face less resistance from Colonial populations.
C. Colonial rule was weakened by decreases in the indigenous population because it led to more resistance to Spanish Colonial rule.
The correct statement that can be analyzed from the evidence in the quotation is:
C. Colonial rule was weakened by decreases in the indigenous population because it led to more resistance to Spanish Colonial rule.
According to the quote, the population of the Americas significantly decreased after the arrival of the Spanish, going from an estimated 60 million people to about 6 million people. The decrease in the indigenous population can be seen as weakening the Spanish colonial rule because it caused more resistance from the remaining indigenous populations.
To analyze the effectiveness of Spanish colonial rule based on the given quote, we can examine the change in the indigenous population before and after Spanish arrival.
According to the quote, the population in the Americas decreased from an estimated 60 million before Spanish arrival to about 6 million after Spanish arrival. From this evidence, we can conclude that the indigenous population significantly decreased due to the impact of Spanish colonial rule.
Now let's analyze the statement choices:
A. Colonial rule was weakened by decreases in the Indigenous population because there were fewer people to work in the colonies.
This statement suggests that the decrease in indigenous population weakened colonial rule because there were fewer people available for labor. However, the quote does not mention the reason for the population decrease, so we cannot specifically attribute it to labor force shortage.
B. Colonial rule was strengthened by indigenous population decrease because it meant they could focus less on the unpopular social caste system.
The quote does not provide any information about the social caste system or its popularity, so we cannot conclude that the decrease in the indigenous population strengthened colonial rule by enabling less focus on the caste system.
C. Colonial rule was weakened by decreases in the indigenous population because it led to more resistance to Spanish colonial rule.
This statement suggests that the decrease in indigenous population weakened colonial rule by causing more resistance. However, the quote does not mention any resistance specifically related to the population decrease.
D. Colonial rule was strengthened by decreases in the indigenous population because it meant they would face less resistance from colonial populations.
This statement suggests that the decrease in indigenous population strengthened colonial rule by reducing resistance. Given that the quote does not mention any resistance specifically related to the population decrease, we cannot support this conclusion.
Based on the evidence from the quote, none of the given statement choices can be directly supported.