
Native Americans were also vulnerable during the colonial era because they had never been exposed to European diseases, like smallpox, so they didn’t have any immunity to the disease, as some Europeans did. European settlers brought these new diseases with them when they settled, and the illnesses decimated the Native Americans—by some estimates killing as much as 90 percent of their population.
What were the effects of European settlement on Native Americans?
European settlement had overwhelmingly negative consequences for Native Americans. Though Native American tribes did occasionally form positive relationships with European settlers, permanent European settlement in America eventually led to disease and displacement.
What problems did Native Americans face during the colonial era?
This caused rifts that kept some Native American tribes from working together to stop European takeover. Native Americans were also vulnerable during the colonial era because they had never been exposed to European diseases, like smallpox, so they didn’t have any immunity to the disease, as some Europeans did.
What were the effects of the French and Indian War on America?
Europeans continued to enter the country following the French and Indian War, and they continued their aggression against Native Americans. Another consequence of allying with Europeans was that Native Americans were often fighting neighboring tribes.
Why did Native Americans die in the New England colonies?
Microbes to which native inhabitants had no immunity led to death everywhere Europeans settled. Along the New England coast between 1616 and 1618, epidemics claimed the lives of 75 percent of the native people.

What were the early relations between the colonists and the Indians?
Early relations between the colonists and the Indians were an uneasy balance of cooperation and conflict. Although the Europeans brought access to new technology and trade, including weapons, tools and other goods, which was a life changing experience for the Native Americans ’ way of life, conflict became more regular and brutal as the Europeans began to seek more and more land in the New World as their own.
What were the consequences of European settlement?
Slavery was another major and unfortunate consequence of European settlement. The Europeans realized they needed labor to help build houses and clear fields in the new land. Instead of using their own workers, they began to trade goods such as tools and weapons to certain American Indian tribes in exchange for other Indians captured in tribal wars. The Europeans then utilized these captured Indians as slaves.
How did European colonization affect the North American environment?
Perhaps European colonization’s single greatest impact on the North American environment was the introduction of disease. Microbes to which native inhabitants had no immunity led to death everywhere Europeans settled. Along the New England coast between 1616 and 1618, epidemics claimed the lives of 75 percent of the native people. In the 1630s, half the Huron and Iroquois around the Great Lakes died of smallpox. As is often the case with disease, the very young and the very old were the most vulnerable and had the highest mortality rates. The loss of the older generation meant the loss of knowledge and tradition, while the death of children only compounded the trauma, creating devastating implications for future generations.
What were the reasons for the rise of slavery in the American colonies?
Explain the reasons for the rise of slavery in the American colonies. As Europeans moved beyond exploration and into colonization of the Americas, they brought changes to virtually every aspect of the land and its people, from trade and hunting to warfare and personal property.
How did the Europeans influence the slave trade?
The growing slave trade with Europeans had a profound impact on the people of West Africa, giving prominence to local chieftains and merchants who traded slaves for European textiles, alcohol, guns, tobacco, and food. Africans also charged Europeans for the right to trade in slaves and imposed taxes on slave purchases. Different African groups and kingdoms even staged large-scale raids on each other to meet the demand for slaves.
What happened to Africans when they reached their destination in America?
When they reached their destination in America, Africans found themselves trapped in shockingly brutal slave societies. In the Chesapeake colonies, they faced a lifetime of harvesting and processing tobacco. Everywhere, Africans resisted slavery, and running away was common.
Why did Europeans travel to America?
Just as pharmaceutical companies today scour the natural world for new drugs, Europeans traveled to America to discover new medicines. The task of cataloging the new plants found there helped give birth to the science of botany. Early botanists included the English naturalist Sir Hans Sloane, who traveled to Jamaica in 1687 and there recorded hundreds of new plants ( [link] ). Sloane also helped popularize the drinking of chocolate, made from the cacao bean, in England.
How many slaves were there in 1700?
By 1700, the tiny English sugar island of Barbados had a population of fifty thousand slaves, and the English had encoded the institution of chattel slavery into colonial law. This new system of African slavery came slowly to the English colonists, who did not have slavery at home and preferred to use servant labor.
What was the demand for labor in the colonies?
Everywhere in the American colonies, a crushing demand for labor existed to grow New World cash crops, especially sugar and tobacco. This need led Europeans to rely increasingly on Africans, and after 1600, the movement of Africans across the Atlantic accelerated.
What were the problems that the colonists brought to the New World?
Although the colonists suffered diseases of their own early on, they were largely immune to the microbes they brought over to the New World.
What did Native Americans provide?
The Native Americans provided skins, hides, food, knowledge, and other crucial materials and supplies, while the settlers traded beads and other types of currency (also known as “ wampum ”) in exchange for these goods. Ideas were traded alongside physical goods, with wampum sometimes carrying religious significance as well.
What religion did the New England colonies practice?
The primary religion of the New England colonies was the strict Puritan Christianity originally brought to the Massachusetts Bay colony by ships like the Mayflower, but as the colonies grew and changed, some of the colonists began to move away from that base. So too did views on the Native Americans who shared their land.
Why was the Plymouth colony not dependent on England?
After only five years, the Plymouth Colony was no longer financially dependent on England due to the roots and local economy it had built alongside the native Massachusetts peoples. Both sides benefited from the trade and bartering system established by the native peoples and the colonists.
What were the first conflicts in the Northeast?
In the first English colonies in the Northeast (as well as in Virginia), there were initial conflicts and concerns over the threat colonists posed to the Native Americans’ long-established territory. Still, colonists were able to build thriving colonies with the help of locals. Trade was one of the first bridges between New England colonists ...
How many Native Americans were there in the 1600s?
In the 1600s, when the first English settlers began to arrive in New England, there were about 60,000 Native Americans living in what would later become the New England colonies (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Haven, and Rhode Island). In the first English colonies in the Northeast (as well as in Virginia), ...
What was the purpose of trade in the New World?
Trade was one of the first bridges between New England colonists and local Native American populations. For the colonists, it was about building the infrastructure and relationships they would need to stay and thrive in the New World. For the Native Americans, it was often about building potential alliances. After only five years, the Plymouth ...
What were the results of the new policies of the colonies?
Many of the Colonies were upset with the new policies and attacked government tax collectors. The Boston Massacre and Boston Tea party were results of the new policies. The Colonies also created a declaration, boycotted taxes, and wrote a petition for King George the third.
What were the negative things about the Columbian Exchange?
The Columbian Exchange was more negative than positive. There were many positive things that happened, but the negative things were more powerful . The biggest negative thing that happened was disease that killed millions of Natives. The Spanish enslaved the Natives for farming and mining, where the labor and malnutrition led to more deaths. The Colonists also pushed Natives off their land, which led to wars. There was a lot of bad and good in the Columbian Exchange and I do not know where we would be today without it.
What would happen if the United States did not win the Revolution?
If America had not won the revolution and become independent, the United States might still be a part of Britain. We probably would not have as much freedom, land, and democracy. The taxes and money would also be different.
What was the goal of the Declaration of Independence?
The goal of the Declaration of Independence was to separate the United States from Britain and become its own independent country. In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called “Common sense” which motivated Americans to break away from Britain. On July 4, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence.
What were the causes of the American Revolution?
There were several things that caused the American Revolution. After the French and Indian war, the British taxed goods that were not tax ed before. This outraged the Colonists and led to the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was when Colonists snuck onto a ship and dumped all the tea, worth about $1 million. Tension was high between the British and Colonists. The first battle of the revolution took place at Lexington and Concord.
Why were patriots not represented in the Parliament?
The loyalists felt they were virtually represented in Parliament because they were supporters of the British Empire while the patriots felt they weren’t represent ed because they could not vote for members of the Parliament. The loyalists also thought that all British colonies and British people pay taxes, so Americans should too. The patriots believed that the colonists should have a say in how they are taxed.
How did European settlement affect Native Americans?
European settlement in the New World had a number of impacts on Native Americans. Mainly, though, settlement pushed Native Americans off their lands. It led to them either dying or being forced onto reservations. When the Europeans first came to the New World, they had two main effects. First, they brought germs that spread through Indian ...
What were the effects of European settlers on North America?
Whatever the motivations, those who settled North America left in their wake a legacy of poverty, domestic, drug and alcohol abuse, and an impenetrable sense of hopelessness among Native American communities.
What happened to the American Indians as more Europeans came?
As more Europeans came, the Europeans eventually wanted more land. This land belonged to the American Indians. Thus began a long series of conflicts and war between the Europeans and the American Indians. In most cases, the American Indians lost their land to the Europeans.
Do Native Americans have unemployment?
To this day , Native Americans continue to be marginalized in society. In the United States, Native American unemployment rates are significantly higher than the population in general. Rights to their lands are still being denied to them in some places. Child and maternal mortality rates tend to be higher than average. All this can be traced back to European settlement that did much to destroy the way of life of countless native peoples.
Is Native American unemployment higher than the population?
In the United States, Native American unemployment rates are significantly higher than the population in general. Rights to their lands are still being denied to them in some places. Child and maternal mortality rates tend to be higher than average.
Did the Plains Indians have horses?
For example, we think of the Plains Indians as horse people, but they of course had no horses until Europeans came to the Americas. As European settlement expanded, Indians were pushed farther and farther west. Some fought wars to try to prevent this and were killed. Those who were not killed were eventually put on reservations, ...
