Dai fatti alla Storia - volume 1

M2 ACTIVITY 4.G Complete the text below by inserting the words given. punishment secondly gods deaths diseases resist The Reasons of the Collapse How was the collapse of the great pre-Columbian Empires possible? How could a few men defeat larger, well trained armies? Many factors have to be considered to explain these events. First of all the Aztecs and the Inca were internally divided and both were hated by the surrounding peoples that joined the Spaniards to fight their dominators. (1.) .......... ........... ... the natives were terrorized by horses and firearms that were unfamiliar to them and which they could not (2.) .......... ........... ... . Moreover the pre-Columbian civilizations interpreted the arrival of the Spaniards in a religious way. They lived in constant fear of divine (3.) .......... ........... ... and constantly expected catastrophes. As a consequence when the Aztecs and the Inca met the Spaniards they did not think they were men but (4.) .......... ........... ... who had arrived to punish them for their faults. Finally the Europeans spread contagious (5.) .................... that the natives could not ward off as they had no natural immunity against them and no idea of how to treat them. Smallpox, typhoid fever, measles and influenza caused millions of (6.) .......... ........... ... . ............. One of the consequences was that the inhabitants of the Aztec Empire were reduced from 25 million to only 1 million in just 80 years. Smallpox epidemic among the Native inhabitants of Central and South America. ACTIVITY 4.H Match parts 1-5 to parts a-e to make complete sentences. 1. Peoples ruled by the Aztecs and the Inca joined the Spaniards 2. The natives could not resist 3. Pre-Columbian civilizations were expecting catastrophes 4. The Aztecs and the Inca believed that 5. The natives had no natural immunity against a. which were considered to be a form of divine punishment. b. the Spaniards were not men but gods. c. the contagious diseases spread by the Europeans. d. to fight their dominators. e. horses and firearms. ACTIVITY 5 General revision 1. At the end of the Middle Ages what trade routes did the merchants follow and what did they trade? 2. Describe the different voyages undertaken by Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus to reach India. 3. Explain how Christopher Columbus describes his encounters with the inhabitants of the new lands he discovered. 4. What were the three main pre-Columbian civilizations and what characteristics did they have in common? 5. Why did the great pre-Columbian Empires collapse? Give some reasons. 584 77636R_0000E01_INTE_BAS@0584.pgs 15.09.2021 15:02

Dai fatti alla Storia - volume 1
Dai fatti alla Storia - volume 1
Dal Medioevo all’Età moderna