(a) By the 16th century, Portuguese and Spanish conquest and colonization was underway.
(b) The **** conquest was not the result of superior firepower.
(c) The most powerful ** of the Spanish conquerors was not the conventional military ** but the germs of the *** such as smallpox that the conquerors carried on their person.
(d) Because of their isolation, **** inhabitants did not have immunity to the **** which came from Europe.
(e) Smallpox proved a deadly **, Once introduced, it spread into the interior of the continent, even before the Europeans could reach there. It ** and decimated the people, paving the way for conquest and colonization.
