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"The most… (Class 10 Social Science SQP 2023-24, Q22A)

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Social ScienceCBSE Class 10 · Sample paper, session 2023-24 · 2 marks · Very short answer

CBSE Class 10 Social Science sample paper 2023-24: question 22(A)

From the official CBSE sample question paper for 2023-24, section B, question 22(A), for 2 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q22(A) · 2 marks · Very short answerThe Making of a Global World

"The most powerful weapon of the Spanish conqueror was not a conventional military weapon at all." Justify the above statement by giving two reasons.

Source: official sample paper from cbseacademic.nic.in (PDF). See it in the full Sample paper 2023-24.

Hints

Open one hint at a time and try again before the next.

Hint 1

Think of something invisible that the Europeans carried with them.

Hint 2

Why were the native Americans especially vulnerable to it?

Step-by-step solution

Each step shows the marks it earns, as an examiner would award them. Checked by an independent re-solve from the question paper.

  1. The Spanish conquerors carried germs, especially smallpox, which spread deep into the American continent even before the Europeans themselves reached those areas.

    1 mark

  2. The original inhabitants had no immunity against these European diseases, so whole communities were wiped out. This 'biological warfare' in the mid-sixteenth century made it easy for the Spanish to conquer them.

    1 mark

Answer: Germs such as smallpox, against which Americans had no immunity, were the Spaniards' real weapon.

Where the marks are

  • Germs like smallpox spread ahead of the conquerors (1 mark)
  • Natives lacked immunity, so communities were wiped out and conquest became easy (1 mark)

Revise the chapter

Practise this chapterBoard-style questions from The Making of a Global World, one at a time, marked against the answer key and marking points.Back to the full paperSample paper 2023-24: every question, by section.

The question is transcribed from the official paper; figures are described in words. The solution, hints and chapter tag are ours. Spotted an error? Write tosupport@questionbuddy.in.