What was most responsible for the decrease in native american population in settled areas of North America?

Question

during the colonial period

A. Indians were drawn into European wars by the intricate, complex European diplomacy and often ended up on the losing side at the peace table, forcing them to move farther west.

B. The British army and the colonial militias periodically mounted campaigns to push the Indians out of specific areas in order to open these areas up for settlement.

C. European diseases devastated the Indian population because they had no inherited immunity to measles, chicken pox, mumps, and whooping cough.

D. The arrival of the whites injected a disruptive new element into the delicate balance of power between the tribes, leading an increase in tribal warfare.

E. the whites initially enslaved Indians and blacks, but after they had captured a large percentage of the Indian population they were forced to turn more toward black slaves rather than Indian slaves

Answer 1

C)  Diseases killed up to 90 percent of the Indian population.

Answer 2

Mostly C.  It was used as an early form of chemical warfare.  Though all of it had a hand in it, we just had no immunity to the devastating diseases that they had when they came over.   those who survived where the strong ones....IE men.  Men couldn't bare children, whole lines were wiped out.   Strategically speaking they did a d**n good job with the least amount of work taking over a country already populated.   Without diseases to do most of their work, Killing off our ancestors woulda been far more difficult.  

Answer 3

C. However, the other factors mentioned as possible answers also played lesser roles as well.

Answer 4

Although all of the above have had their role to play, it was primarily due to the ethnic cleansing followed by the church amply supported by European rulers.