A consequence of the first contact was that many Europeans had brought the disease into the world. "Before 1492 Native Americans had never been exposed to smallpox, measles, malaria, or yellow fever". Europeans lived in close proximity to animals that acted as disease victims and suffered outbreaks more than once. Native Americans didn't have immunity to the diseases because they never had experienced what Europeans were diagnosed as childhood diseases. Native Americans that got smallpox, measles, influenza, chicken pox, and typhoid had high fevers and ended up dying quickly. "In some cases, people who were sick may have otherwise survived if provided with basic care." The First Nations weren't prepared with quality health care during this time and this left the food harvest impossible. When a disruption in harvest happens, it makes matters worse by a lack of food for the remaining tribe members and reduces their immune system's resistance to disease due to the lack of nutrients. Population figures were at the low end of estimates, in 1492 it stated that there were 25 million people of the New World, by 1506 there was 16 million, and by 1607 it went down to 9 million people. .
Europeans believed in one true society of catholicism and protestantism. They believed that outdoor events except for festivals were smacked of shameless casualness and irreverence or at worst Devil Worship. They wanted worships to be held in a specially constructed and consecrated structures. However, Native Americans had a broad spectrum of beliefs such as spiritualism, animalism and the Great Spirit. They didn't have any written scriptures, no sin, and no reasoned theology. Indians typically held all rituals outdoors, whether it was a community dance or a private sojourn for a quest. Another consequence between the Native Americans and the Europeans is that they believed in different attributes towards death.
