Imagine your shock at waking up one morning to a fleet of enormous, otherworldly craft looming over you. And when bizarre aliens begin to emerge, speaking strange gibberish, your heart races even faster. Similar fears may have gripped New World inhabitants when diverse civilizations- separated by a vast ocean- first met. American natives once knew nothing of towering ships, galloping horses, thundering guns, or smallpox. From 1492 onward, however, waves of adventurers would give them a cruel introduction. And yet, ultimately, New World dwellers- together with their Old World counterparts- would become transformed by these global connections.