Final answer:
The document details how European diseases decimated native populations due to lack of immunity, and how settlers also suffered due to bad weather, starvation, and disease, contributing to high mortality rates during the colonization period. Jared Diamond's work offers additional insights into these dynamics.
Step-by-step explanation:
European settlers brought diseases like smallpox, diphtheria, and measles to the indigenous populations, who had no immunity, resulting in catastrophic mortality rates. Additionally, factors such as malnutrition due to disrupted agricultural practices further weakened the natives' ability to survive not only new diseases but also those they were previously able to withstand. This information helps explain the high death toll among both the native people and the European settlers in the early years of colonization. European diseases were a primary factor in the high death rates among native populations because of their lack of prior exposure and consequent immunity. The document also underscores the role of environmental conditions, such as bad weather and malnutrition, which exacerbated the impact of diseases and led to the period known as “the starving time.” Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs, and Steel is mentioned as a seminal work that provides further understanding of the factors that led to the high death rates among indigenous peoples during European colonization, including the critical roles of geography and immunity to germs.