>>1668182i'm not arguing with that point that they weren't adaptable, just that their strength and determination wasn't enough for them to win. disease killed half their foes, and they didn't win decisive battles until they had indian allies in the field. even then it was the most fatal war, per capita, the US/conolian history. 10% of the population was massacred, they almost abandoned the colony and left.
the real tragedy is that they didn't go there to conquor. they were very careful about compensation, getting permission and purchasing land, and integrating with the indians in trade and culture as much as possible. a hundred years earlier the spanish, whom the english hated, committed some of the most horrific massacres and atrocities in south america. destroying entire civilizations and millions of people purely for gold and to conquor. the accounts by de las Casas in "Destruction of the Indies" served as horror stories to the english and they were determined never to sink as low as the spanish. but, in fear, panic, and desperation, eventually they did.
