One reason why the Spanish easily conquered the Americas was that the Aztecs and Incas lacked
1. Wealth and power
2. Loyalty to their leaders
3. The will to fight to the death
4. Resistance to European diseases
2. Loyalty to their leaders
The correct answer is 4. Resistance to European diseases. One reason why the Spanish easily conquered the Americas was that the Aztecs and Incas lacked resistance to diseases brought over by the Europeans. The indigenous populations did not have prior exposure to these diseases, which made them more susceptible to illness and significantly weakened their ability to resist the Spanish conquest.
The correct answer is 4. Resistance to European diseases.
To understand why the Spanish easily conquered the Americas, particularly the Aztec and Inca empires, it is important to consider the impact of European diseases on the Native American populations. The Spanish, like other European colonizers, unintentionally brought a number of diseases with them to the Americas, including smallpox, measles, and influenza. These diseases were new to the Native Americans and they had no immunity built up against them.
When the Spanish arrived, these diseases spread rapidly among the indigenous populations, causing widespread sickness and death. The Native Americans never having been exposed to such diseases before, lacked natural immunity, making them highly susceptible to these illnesses. As a result, many indigenous people died in large numbers, and their societies were significantly weakened.
The weakened state of the Aztec and Inca empires due to the devastating impact of diseases made it easier for the Spanish to conquer them. The diminished populations of these societies, along with internal divisions and power struggles among the Native American leaders, weakened their ability to resist the Spanish conquest effectively.
So, while factors such as wealth and power, loyalty to leaders, and the willingness to fight to the death can certainly play a role in the outcome of conflicts, in the case of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, it was primarily the lack of resistance to European diseases that contributed to the relative ease of Spanish conquest.