Enslavement of Indigenous People

Enslavement of Indigenous People

Pre Colonial and Colonial Era

Carter Woodson

Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery and became an abolitionist and civil rights leader; though his birthdate isn't known, he celebrated it on February 14. President Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery in America's confederate states; he was born on February 12.

Summary Objective

Students will describe the nature and extent of colonial enslavement of Indigenous people

Indigenous Slave Trade

 Throughout the Americas, Europeans enslaved between 2.5 million and 5 million Indigenous people. In much of what is now North America, Indigenous people were bought and sold until the late 19th century.

Multiple Choice

Native Americans were difficult for Europeans to enslave because?

• Because of the high Native population in North America

• Native Americans were in better position to fight and resist slavery

• Because of the cheaper labor from importing other slaves.

• Because of the diseases that wiped out the Native population.

Cultural Inferiority

All European colonies enslaved Indigenous people for profit, justifying the practice because of perceived racial and cultural inferiority. Many enslaved Indigenous people were forced to labor far from home. Sometimes the profit from these sales was used to purchase more slaves to work in the American colonies.

Indigenous Warfare

European pursuit of enslaved Indigenous labor caused widespread warfare. Often, colonists financed or otherwise coerced their Indigenous allies to engage in wars with other Indigenous peoples for the purpose of acquiring people to enslave. Some Native nations initiated conflicts and capture to profit from selling captives to Europeans. 

Multiple Select

How did the cultural inferiority perceived from colonists influence the racial caste of Native Americans? (Select all that apply)

• European pursuit of enslaved Indigenous labor cause widespread warfare and demand.

• The exploitation of Native slave trade for profit because of perceived racial and cultural inferiority.

• The profit from sales were used to purchase more slaves to work in the American colonies.

Diseases and Devastation

The violence of slavery further devastated Native nations already weakened by European-introduced diseases. Because of the combined effects of disease, slavery and war, the Indigenous population in the Americas declined from 60 million people to as few as 4 million by the 1600s.

Population Decline

These populations later rebounded significantly, and today there are about 5.2 million Indigenous people living in the United States alone. New research suggests that the European invasion of the Americas may have resulted in the deaths of as much as 90 percent of the continent’s Indigenous population. 

Multiple Choice

Due to colonial exposure, the Native population declined from 60 million to how many people in the 1600s?

• 8 million

• 6 million

• 4 million

• 2 million

Diseases and Devestation

European contact and colonization of Indigenous people resulted more deaths in the Indigenous population then the population decline from the Black Death in Europe.

Christopher Columbus

Enslaving Indigenous people was a primary goal of many Spanish “explorers." Like many European explorers, Christopher Columbus encountered indigenous people throughout his voyages.

Multiple Choice

What caused more deaths, the Black Death (Plague) or the European contact and colonization of Indigenous people?

• The Black Death

• Colonization of Indigenous people

Christopher Columbus

Three main sources of controversy involving his interactions with the indigenous people he labeled “Indians”: the use of violence and slavery, the forced conversion of native peoples to Christianity and the introduction of a host of new diseases that would have dramatic long-term effects on native people in the Americas.

Go Home Columbus

A number of settlers lobbied against him at the Spanish court, accusing Columbus of mismanagement. In 1500, the king and queen sent in a royal administrator, who detained Columbus and his brothers and had them shipped home.

Multiple Select

The negative effects of Christopher Columbus "Exploration" included what? Select all that apply

• Enslaving Indigenous people

• His use of violence towards Natives

• Bringing new diseases to North America

• Forcing Natives into Christianity