Why were Native Americans susceptible to conquest by European adventurers?

There were several traits that made the Indians susceptible to conquest by European adventurers. First, the people themselves were ill-equipped to deal with the European invaders. Their population was rapidly dwindling due to famine, forced labor, epidemics associated with contact with European diseases, and intertribal wars.

The natives were not used to the economic, political and military aspects associated with Europeans. They lacked the organization and political unity necessary to resist the conquering armies. The indigenous tribes were usually in conflict with one another as they went about their daily lives and competed with each other for land and food. As an example, over the years the Aztecs accumulated many enemies, especially within their own tribe. This conflict arose out of rivalry, competition for territorial rights, the acquisition of wealth, and the practice of using one's captured enemies as religious sacrifices. Cortés took advantage of this trait by forming alliances with hostile tribes. Unlike the Aztecs' lack of unity, the Spanish explorers were a highly united society.

Native Americans acquired the indispensable skills of working with copper, but failed to develop the skills needed to smelt iron, so they lacked sufficient technology to wage war against invaders. When Europeans arrived in the New World, they were welcomed by Native Americans. The Indians consider their visitors to be amazing warriors with their military attire, well-groomed beards and massive ships, but above all the technology they brought with them. The indigenous people were amazed by this technology, such as steel knives and swords, the arquebus, which is a type of muzzle loader, cannon, copper and brass kettles, mirrors, hawk bells and earrings, which were used as trade goods, along with other items that were unusual to their way of life. It was rightfully so because the natives lacked the ability to create these amazing inventions used by Europeans. Unfortunately, the European visitors used their weapons of war to cause great harm to the natives.

It didn't take long for serious problems to arise. With the arrival of Europeans in the new world, there were 7 million Native Americans in North America. Most lived in hunter-gatherer or agricultural types of communities. The biggest dilemma the Indians faced was their lack of immunity to European diseases. This lack of immunity in these communities to European diseases took its toll among the Native American tribes. Smallpox was a common threat that Indians often contracted from European people.

Native Americans soon came to hate Europeans and their unfamiliar beliefs. They often scrutinized the white man as despicable and stingy with his wealth. This was a concept that Indians had not encountered before. In their social order, things were freely shared. Explorers were considered voracious in their desire for furs and skins. They were particularly disgusted by the Europeans' intolerance of their native religious beliefs, dietary habits, and marital arrangements, and other aspects of their customs.

Native Americans were used to being in harmony with the spirit of nature, but to Europeans, nature was an obstacle. They thought of nature's gifts as an endless distribution of resources, such as a forest with an abundance of timber, beaver colonies with unlimited furs, and buffalo with many robes. Explorers even saw Native Americans as a resource ripe for religious conversion or a means of free labor.