The American JourneyA History of the United States, 7th Edition

By: Goldfield • Abbott • Anderson • Argersinger • Argersinger • Barney • Weir

Chapter

A Meeting of Cultures

3

A Meeting of Cultures

Indians and Europeans

Africans and Europeans

European Laborers in Early America

Conclusion

Learning Objectives

What were the consequences of trade between Indians and

Europeans?

How and why did race-based slavery develop in British

North America?

What methods did Europeans employ to acquire and

manage labor in colonial America?

Indians and Europeans

Indian Workers in the Spanish Borderlands

Spanish control of labor depended upon the existence of a

sizable Indian communities and a large Spanish military

force. These conditions were met in New Mexico and to a

lesser extent, Florida.

Indian Workers in the Spanish Borderlands (cont'd)

To control Native American labor, the Spanish used several

methods including:

Encomienda

In the Spanish colonies, the grant to a Spanish settler of a certain

number of Indian subjects, who would pay him tribute in goods and

labor.

Repartimiento

In the Spanish colonies, the assignment of Indian workers to labor on

public works projects.

Indian Workers in the Spanish Borderlands (cont'd)

To control Native American labor, the Spanish used several

methods including:

Rescate

Procedure by which Spanish colonists would pay ransom to free Indians

captured by rival natives. The rescued Indians then became workers

in Spanish households.

The Web of Trade

Indians believed that trade required the giving of gifts to

prove their friendship. The French proved most successful

in understanding this aspect of trade.

Trade benefited both Indians and the French as Indians

received metal weapons and goods, wool blankets, and

glass beads while the French received furs.

The Web of Trade (cont'd)

As Indians grew dependent on European trade goods, the

French exercised more control over the Indians.

European trade eventually led to violence and warfare. The

Beaver Wars between the Iroquois and Huron led to the

destruction of the Huron.

Displacing Native Americans in the English Colonies

Unlike the French and Dutch, the English colonies were

settled by farmers who competed with Indians for land.

Disputes between Native Americans and English colonists

arose in part because the English and Native Americans

had different ideas and practice of land use.

Displacing Native Americans in the English Colonies

(cont'd)

The increase in colonial population led to the displacement

of Indians. The colonists acquired Indian lands through

purchase, fraud and in the aftermath of war.

Native Americans who survived war and disease often

regrouped to form new communities beyond colonial

settlements.

FIGURE 3–1 Estimated Populations of Selected

Indian Peoples, 1600–1730

Bringing Christianity to

Native Peoples

Franciscan priests drove Spain’s efforts to control the New

Mexico and Florida colonies. In seeking converts, the

missionaries used goods and ceremonies to impress

Indians, followed epidemics to show the power of the

Christian God, and offered protection from attack and

food.

Bringing Christianity to

Native Peoples (cont'd)

Indian converts incorporated Christian teaching into their

native beliefs and practices.

French Jesuits in Canada used similar strategies with

similar results.

English missionaries enjoyed little success.

After the First Hundred Years:

Conflict and War

King Philip’s War resulted from the growing frustration of the

Wampanoags with land-hungry settlers. Initially victorious,

the Indians led by Metacom (King Philip) were defeated

and lost what remained of their independence.

After the First Hundred Years:

Conflict and War (cont'd)

Bacon’s Rebellion began when frontier settlers attempted to

violently seize the land of the Susquehannocks. The

Virginia governor opposed the attacks, sparking the

rebellion. As a result, the Powhatans lost their remaining

lands.

After the First Hundred Years:

Conflict and War (cont'd)

The Pueblo Revolt led by Pope resulted from discontent

with harsh Spanish rule. The initial result was the removal

of the Spanish from New Mexico for 13 years. Their return

was marked by less stringent policies toward Indians.

After the Beaver Wars, the Iroquois adopted a policy of

neutrality between European powers.

After the First Hundred Years:

Conflict and War (cont'd)

King Philip’s War

Conflict in New England (1675–1676) between Wampanoags,

Narragansetts, and other Indian peoples against English settlers;

sparked by English encroachments on native lands.

Beaver Wars

Series of bloody conflicts, occurring between 1640s and 1680s, during

which the Iroquois fought the French and their Indian allies for control

of the fur trade in eastern North America and the Great Lakes region.

After the First Hundred Years:

Conflict and War (cont'd)

Bacon’s Rebellion

Violent conflict in Virginia (1675–1676), beginning with settler attacks on

Indians but culminating in a rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against

Virginia’s government.

Pueblo Revolt

Rebellion in 1680 of Pueblo Indians in New Mexico against their Spanish

overlords, sparked by religious conflict and excessive Spanish

demands for tribute.

One of the many pueblos scattered along the Rio

Grande valley,

Africans and Europeans

Labor Needs and the Turn to Slavery

Europeans were pleased with the abundant land in the new

World but perplexed by the scarcity and high cost of labor.

The reverse had been true in Europe.

Labor Needs and the Turn to Slavery (cont’d)

Europeans first attempted to enslave Indians but their

declining numbers, the refusal of men to do farm labor,

and the ease of escape made Indians unsuitable as a

labor source.

Labor Needs and the Turn to Slavery (cont’d)

Europeans relied on Africans to capture slaves, establishing

forts and posts on the West African coast. Africans of all

social ranks were enslaved. Slaves were marched to the

coast in chains, loaded on to ships for the brutal middle

passage, and then sold in the Americas.

FIGURE 3–2 Destination of Slaves Imported from

Africa to the Americas between 1451 and 1810

The Shock of Enslavement

Slavery arose in the southern colonies because indentured

servants became harder to find and African slaves

became more available.

The Shock of Enslavement (cont’d)

Slaves were preferable to servants because slave status

passed from a mother to their children and so could be a

self-reproducing labor force, were easily captured if they

tried to escape, and were slaves for life.

The Shock of Enslavement (cont’d)

By 1720, slavery was firmly established in the South

because it met the labor needs of planters commercially

producing staple crops for market.

Middle Passage

The voyage between West Africa and the New World slave colonies.

The Shock of Enslavement (cont’d)

By 1720, slavery was firmly established in the South

because it met the labor needs of planters commercially

producing staple crops for market.

Middle Passage

The voyage between West Africa and the New World slave colonies.

MAP 3–2 African Origins of North American

Slaves, 1690–1807

African Slaves in the New World

Slavery was present in every British colony but fewer slaves

lived in northern colonies.

In northern areas where large commercial farms existed,

slavery existed. But most northern farmers produced food

for their families and slaves were not profitable.

African Slaves in the New World (cont'd)

Northern slaves were found in cities, especially ports. In

Philadelphia at the beginning of the eighteenth century,

one of six residents was a slave.

Race relations became more rigid after 1700 when laws

restricted the rights and opportunities of free blacks.

African Slaves in the New World (cont'd)

Conditions of slaves also worsened as slave codes reduced

an entire class of people to property.

FIGURE 3–3 Estimated Population of Black and

White Settlers in British Colonial Regions, 1650–

1750

African American Families and Communities

African families and communities emerged with greater

success in the southern colonies, and witnessed the rise

of a creole (American-born) slave community.

Most slaves were field hands, except for men trained as

skilled workers and women who were nurses and cooks.

African American Families and Communities

(cont’d)

Though fragile, most slaves lived in family groups by the

late eighteenth century. Kinship reflected West African

traditions.

• Community life forged ties among slaves and offered

opportunities to preserve elements of African heritage,

especially funerals. Few slaves were attracted to

Christianity before the American Revolution.

Resistance and Rebellion

Though it was a desperate act, thousands of slaves ran

away.

Slave resistance included working slowly, breaking tools,

feigning illness, damaging crops, stealing, and setting fire

to barns, house, and fields.

Organized rebellion was the rarest form of rebellion and the

hardest to implement because it required complete

secrecy.

Resistance and Rebellion (cont'd)

The Stono Rebellion in South Carolina in 1739 was started

by about 20 slaves, many newly arrived from Angola. The

revolt was put down by white troops with Indian help and

led to the passage of laws requiring stricter regulation of

slave activities.

Resistance and Rebellion (cont'd)

Stono Rebellion

Uprising in 1739 of South Carolina slaves against whites; inspired in part

by Spanish officials’ promise of freedom for American slaves who

escaped to Florida.

European Laborers

in Early America

A Spectrum of Control

One-half to two-thirds of all white immigrants were

indentured servants. Chesapeake planters also employed

transported English convicts, mostly young, lower-class

men.

The redemption system brought many German families to

the colonies. Redemptioners were to pay the costs of

passage on arrival in America.

A Spectrum of Control (cont'd)

Owners of undeveloped land rented tracts to families

without property to clear the land.

Merchants seeking to develop fisheries advanced credit to

fishermen to outfit their boats but later moved to a wage

system.

A Spectrum of Control (cont'd)

Northern farmers used children as laborers.

Redemptioners

Similar to indentured servants, except that redemptioners signed labor

contracts in America rather than in Europe, as indentured servants did.

Shipmasters sold redemptioners into servitude to recoup the cost of

their passage if they could not pay the fare upon their arrival.

Predominant Colonial Labor Systems,

1750

[[Image Reference]] - Table, Page 83

New European Immigrants

European immigrants flooded into America in the 17th and

18th centuries, including 250,000 Scotch-Irish, thousands

of Irish Catholics, and almost 100,000 German

Protestants

New European Immigrants (cont’d)

Most immigrants went to locations where land was cheap

and labor was in demand, the foothills of the Appalachian

Mountains, from western Pennsylvania to the Carolinas.

FIGURE 3–4 Ethnic Distribution of Non-Indian

Inhabitants of British Mainland Colonies, c. 1770

Conclusion

Conclusion

Eighteenth century America presented a mosaic of people

and communities.

Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans adapted to

each other and to changing American conditions.

European nations became more involved in their American

colonies as the 18th century proceeded.