Long before the trans-Atlantic African slave trade was established in North America, Europeans were conducting a trade of enslaved Indigenous peoples, beginning with Christopher Columbus on Haiti in 1492. European colonists used these enslavements as a weapon of war while the Indigenous peoples themselves used enslavement as a tactic for survival.
Full Answer
How were Native Americans treated as slaves in the Spanish colonies?
In the Spanish colonies, the church assigned Spanish surnames to Native Americans and recorded them as servants rather than slaves. Many members of Native American tribes in the Western United States were taken for life as slaves. In some cases, courts served as conduits for enslavement of Indians,...
How did the colonists treat the natives during the Revolutionary War?
The colonists, however, successfully put down Native American uprisings throughout the decade. The Native Americans were forced to give up their lands so the colonists could grow even more tobacco. In addition to their desire for land, the English also used religion to justify bloodshed.
How were Native Americans and African Americans treated in the 1800s?
The abductions showed that even in the 1800s little distinction was still made between African Americans and Native Americans. Both Native American and African-American enslaved people were at risk of sexual abuse by slaveholders and other white men of power.
How were African slaves treated in the British colonies?
The first Africans brought to the colonies of what would be the United States had been enslaved by the Portugese. In the British colonies, they maintained a legal status similar to white indentured servants. Unlike the white indentured servants, however, the enslaved Africans did not volunteer their labor.
Essential Questions
How did the explorers and later the colonists who came to the New World for "Gold, Glory and/or God" justify their treatment of Native Americans, African slaves, and indentured servants?
Background
The nations that explored and colonized North and South America during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries used a variety of approaches for subjugating Native Americans, African slaves, and indentured servants.
Introduction
Ask students to name nations around the world today that deny certain groups of citizens their basic human rights. They will probably mention Communist nations or nations with dictators in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. Ask them to list the basic human rights that may be denied and discuss why it is important for these rights to be granted.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to understand the complexity of the issues discussed in the Essential Questions.
Materials
"They Live Well in the Time of their Service," George Alsop writes of Servants in Maryland, 1663, National Humanities Center. George Alsop worked as an indentured servant in Maryland from 1648 to 1652
Summary
This lesson includes a variety of teaching and learning techniques that should help students gain a clear understanding of this aspect of colonial history.
Why did New Englanders enslave Native Americans?
New Englanders’ motivations for enslaving Native Americans included making money and clearing land for colonists to claim , Fisher wrote. It was also easier to remove Native Americans from the region than to sell them locally and risk having the Native Americans run away to find refuge.
What Native Americans offered their services to the English in the war?
Some Native Americans offered their services to the English in the war, like Awashonks, the female chief of a confederation of Sakonnet Indians, who pledged support on the condition that Sakonnet men, women and children would not be killed or sent out of the country as slaves, according to the study. Especially near the war’s end, Fisher wrote, ...
What did Fisher study on those who surrendered in King Philip's War look at?
Fisher’s study on those who surrendered in King Philip’s War looks at what factors contributed to native slavery and the impact enslavement had on Native Americans for generations.
What did Fisher say about Native Americans?
In other cases, Fisher wrote, Native Americans requested captives as servants for themselves, sometimes to keep them out of English households, or served as slave-trading middlemen. In one case, Fisher notes, a Native American slave owned by a Pequot leader was sold by him to an enslaved African woman.
What happened to Native Americans who surrendered during King Philip's War?
Study by Brown University historian finds that Native Americans who surrendered during King Philip’s War were sold into slavery, with long-lasting effects.
When did the Connecticut General Assembly take up the issue of second generation slaves?
In 1721, 45 years after the end of King Philip’s War, the Connecticut General Assembly took up the question of second-generation Native American child slaves. The Native American children who had been placed as servants in English households after the war had grown up and had children of their own.
Who was the leader of the New England colonies during the 1675-1676 war?
The 1675 to 1676 war pitted Native American leader King Philip, also known as Metacom, and his allies against the English colonial settlers. During the war, New England colonies routinely shipped Native Americans as slaves to Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, the Azores, Spain and Tangier in North Africa, Fisher said.
What did Africans do in colonial America?
Despite these hardships, Africans in colonial America developed a vibrant culture that embodied a combination of resistance against their enslavers, adopted Christian worship, and customs from their native Africa.
What were the Africans' contributions to the colonial era?
While Africans in colonial America held very little social or political power, their contributions not only supported the Southern colonies but led to their eventual prosperity. The first Africans brought to the colonies of what would be the United States had been enslaved by the Portugese.
What were the first Africans brought to the colonies?
The first Africans brought to the colonies of what would be the United States had been enslaved by the Portugese. In the British colonies, they maintained a legal status similar to white indentured servants. Unlike the white indentured servants, however, the enslaved Africans did not volunteer their labor.
How did the status of Africans in the United States change over the course of the century?
However, the Africans' status in the United States slowly deteriorated over the course of the century, as colonies slowly added laws to permit slavery and restrict the rights of Africans. There are two examples of this shift from indentured servitude to the institution of legal slavery for blacks in the British-American colonies.
What laws were passed in 1662?
More laws followed, including one in 1662 that said children were born into slavery if their mothers were enslaved, and one in 1705 that declared all non-Christian servants brought to the colonies would automatically be enslaved.
Where did the enslavement of Africans begin?
Here, enslaved blacks plant sweet potatoes on James Hopkinson's plantation on Edisto Island, South Carolina, in 1862.
What were the jobs of slaves?
While most enslaved people worked in the field, others were used in the enslavers’ homes, assisting the owners in running the plantation and household as manservants, maids, cooks, and nannies.
Why was religion used in Native American colonial life?
Religion was often used to justify the poor treatment of the natives. Both England’s economic system and religion led to Native American oppression. John Rolfe introduced tobacco to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1612. Jamestown’s tobacco growers made a lot of money by trading tobacco with the Europeans.
Why did the colonists give up their land?
The Native Americans were forced to give up their lands so the colonists could grow even more tobacco. In addition to their desire for land, the English also used religion to justify bloodshed.
What were the Spanish conquistadors cruel to?
The Spanish conquistadors were unquestionably cruel to Native Americans. England’s colonists, however, were equally hostile toward the natives they encountered. The success of England’s colonies depended on the exploitation of Native Americans who were forced off their lands. Religion was often used to justify the poor treatment of the natives.
Did the Puritans believe God supported the extermination of the Pequot?
The Pequot had previously killed several English captains so the Puritans claimed God supported their extermination of the Pequot for the killing of Englishmen. Since they were Christians and the Pequot were seen as heathens, the Puritans felt justified in their actions. Like this: Like.
Why did Native Americans resist the Europeans?
They resisted the efforts of the Europeans to gain more of their land and control through both warfare and diplomacy. But problems arose for the Native Americans, which held them back from their goal, including new diseases, the slave trade, and the ever-growing European population in North America. In the 17 th century, as European nations ...
What is the definition of colonialism?
Noun. people or groups united for a specific purpose. colonial expansion. Noun. spread of a foreign authority over other territories, usually through the establishment of settlement communities. colonialism. Noun. type of government where a geographic area is ruled by a foreign power. confine.
Which two groups were allied in the French and Indian War?
Some famous alliances were formed during the French and Indian War of 1754–1763. The English allied with the Iroquois Confederacy, while the Algonquian-speaking tribes joined forces with the French and the Spanish. The English won the war, and claimed all of the land east of the Mississippi River.
What were the consequences of the wars between the European nations?
As a result of the wars between the European nations, Native Americans allied with the losing side were often indentured or enslaved. There were even Native Americans shipped out of colonies like South Carolina into slavery in other places, like Canada.
What did the Europeans do to Native Americans?
When the Europeans made contact with the Native Americans, they began to participate in the slave trade. Native Americans, in their initial encounters with the Europeans, attempted to use their captives from enemy tribes as a "method of playing one tribe against another" in an unsuccessful game of divide and conquer.
What were Native Americans used for?
Native American groups often enslaved war captives, whom they primarily used for small-scale labor. Others, however, would stake themselves in gambling situations when they had nothing else, which would put them into servitude for a short time, or in some cases for life; captives were also sometimes tortured as part of religious rites, which sometimes involved ritual cannibalism. During times of famine, some Native Americans would also temporarily sell their children to obtain food.
How many Native Americans were enslaved?
Andrés Reséndez estimates that between 147,000 and 340,000 Native Americans were enslaved in North America, excluding Mexico.
How many people were in the southern tribes in 1685?
The lethal combination of slavery, disease, and warfare dramatically decreased the free southern Native American populations; it is estimated that the southern tribes numbered around 199,400 in 1685 but decreased to 90,100 in 1715.
How many slaves were there in 1790?
In 1790, the United States census report indicated that the number of slaves in the state was 6,001 , with an unknown proportion of Native Americans, but at least 200 were cited as half-breed Indians (meaning half African).
What were the differences between slavery and Europeans?
Whereas many Europeans eventually came to look upon slaves of African descent as being racially inferior, Native Americans took slaves from other Native American groups, and therefore viewed them as ethnically inferior.
What happened to Native Americans in the late 18th and 19th centuries?
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, a small number of tribes adopted the practice of holding slaves as chattel property, holding increasing numbers of African-American slaves.
Essential Questions
Background
- The nations that explored and colonized North and South America during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries used a variety of approaches for subjugating Native Americans, African slaves, and indentured servants. Once Jamestown was settled in 1607, democratic policies were incorporated into colonial governments, but at the same time,...
Introduction
- Ask students to name nations around the world today that deny certain groups of citizens their basic human rights. They will probably mention Communist nations or nations with dictators in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. Ask them to list the basic human rights that may be denied and discuss why it is important for these rights to be granted. Students will most likely mention t…
Learning Objectives
- Students will be able to understand the complexity of the issues discussed in the Essential Questions.
- Students will read and be able to evaluate and analyze primary source documents.
- Students will be able to gain expertise in the early colonial period and be able to convey/share information with their peers.
- Students will be able to understand the complexity of the issues discussed in the Essential Questions.
- Students will read and be able to evaluate and analyze primary source documents.
- Students will be able to gain expertise in the early colonial period and be able to convey/share information with their peers.
- Students will be able to place the information they acquire into historical context.
Procedure
- Day One
1. Begin with the Motivational Strategy to set the stage for the lesson. 2. Brainstorm the definition of democracy with the class. 3. Divide students into five study groups. 4. Assign each study group one of the following topics: - Indentured Servants - African Slaves - Native Americans - Religion - … - Day Two
Instruct the students to complete the following task: Using the information you have learned from the readings, your study group is to create a MUSEUM EXHIBIT on your aspect of the topic. This exhibit should include a tri-fold display boardorganized with the following items: 1. Your twenty-i…
Summary
- This lesson includes a variety of teaching and learning techniques that should help students gain a clear understanding of this aspect of colonial history. To condense the lesson into two days, the museum-exhibit assignment can be eliminated as part of the learning piece and a jigsaw can be substituted where students move from their study groups to new groups, created with an "expert…