Relationships Between Europeans And Native Americans

By the year 1750, settlers and slaves combined outnumbered Native Americans. Although, Indians still controlled much of North America. The relationships between Europeans and Natives was based on many factors. The size and length of time the settlers stayed, as well as their intentions such as trade, resources, and religious conversions. Indians worked in Spanish borderlands because Spaniards wanted complete control over them. These conditions were mainly found in Florida and New Mexico. The spanish used special techniques for exploiting Native American labor. The encomienda was a right given to certain colonists who were allowed to collect tribute from Indians living on a certain piece of land. There was also the repartimiento which was a mandatory labor draft for natives. Lastly, the rescate allowed spaniards to pay ransom for Indians held captive by rival natives. These strategies were harshly disliked and and disapproved by natives. Although, some Indians had pleasant relationships with settlers. The French, were very successful in trading fur with them. The only problem was that diseases were easily transmitted and the French began to control the Indians which encouraged violence.
Settlers also misunderstood Indian land use which led to disputes. By the …show more content…
About 1.8 million slaves arrived in the 17th century. Spaniards and Portuguese brought Africans to the Americas to replace Indian labor. Then, in the 1680s, planters in the Chesapeake region began switching from servants to slaves, because of the specific labor needed. In the British colonies, economic conditions led to the rapid growth of slavery in the South. Slaves suffered through a six to eight week long ocean voyage known as the middle passage. By 1750, most slaves in southern colonies were American-born, not African natives. They began to develop a new culture combining both their African past and American