Europeans and Native Americans in the New World Disease and medicine along with war and religion were three ways American history changed. When settlers arrived from Europe, they unknowingly changed the world forever in ways they could not have imagined. These effects were present among both Native Americans and Europeans. Some of these changes made life easier for both Native Americans and Europeans, but others also worsened relations. And some effects wouldn't show up until it was too late. One of these significant changes was the introduction of new diseases to the new world. When Europeans arrived and began interacting with Native Americans, they brought with them new diseases that Native Americans were not accustomed to. Since Native Americans were not immune to these diseases, like Europeans, the diseases spread quickly and lethally. New diseases such as smallpox, diphtheria, measles, bubonic and pneumonic plague, cholera, influenza, typhoid, dysentery, and yellow fever spread like wildfire among Native American tribes. Add these new deadly diseases and other problems such as malnutrition, anemia and high rate of fetal and neonatal deaths and infant mortality, parasitic intestinal infections, dental problems, respiratory infections, spina bifida, osteomyelitis, non-pulmonary tuberculosis, syphilis together a with bruises, arthritis and snake bites and you can understand why Native American populations have declined dramatically because of disease. Some tribes suffered a population loss of up to 90%, obviously not only due to disease, but also for other reasons, such as war between other tribes and Europeans. Although medicine has made progress, especially in recent years, there were sorcerers and women. ..... middle of paper ...... cult but Europeans saw it as devil worship. Europeans never understood the beliefs of Native Americans nor did they understand how religious they actually were. It's like taking your grandparents who were taught one religion their whole lives and trying to convert them to a different religion when they're 70. The Europeans were just asking for trouble when they attempted to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Of course there were some Native Americans who converted and believed in Christianity, but most did not. No one could have imagined the effects that would happen when Europeans arrived in America. Whenever large groups of people meet for the first time, there will inevitably be wars, new diseases, and religious conflicts between them. Due to the influences of Europeans and Native Americans, America is what it is today.