Native American Interactions and Slavery
Native American interactions with Europeans varied dramatically depending on which European power they encountered. When the Spanish arrived, they conquered existing empires, enslaved native populations, and established the encomienda system of forced labor. This oppression led to events like the Pueblo Revolt, when Pueblos temporarily expelled Spanish settlers from Santa Fe in resistance to forced Christian conversion.
The British approached native relations differently than other Europeans. They typically migrated in family groups, didn't intermarry with natives, and gradually expanded onto native lands—creating growing tensions. While early relationships were sometimes peaceful with cultural exchange, conflicts like Metacom's War (1675) erupted when native groups like the Wampanoag tried to stop British expansion. The French established the least invasive relationship, viewing natives primarily as trading partners and military allies rather than obstacles to settlement.
The Atlantic slave trade fundamentally shaped colonial development, transporting approximately 3 million Africans to the colonies. Slavery existed throughout all British colonies but took different forms—household servants in New England versus plantation field workers in the South. Colonial slave laws defined African laborers as chattel (property) and established slavery as hereditary, with laws growing increasingly harsh over time.
Think about it: Enslaved people resisted their condition through both covert means (preserving cultural practices, secretly damaging tools) and sometimes through overt rebellion like the Stono Rebellion, where slaves stole supplies, killed owners, and burned plantations.
Colonial authorities lived in fear of slave uprisings, particularly in regions where enslaved people formed the majority population. This fear led to increasingly oppressive systems of control, especially in the plantation economies of the South and Caribbean, where interracial relationships were criminalized and brutal punishments were common for any form of resistance.