The Spanish also fished and traded furs with the Indians because European demand for furs was balanced for Native American’s want for European goods. The newly introduced European goods to Indian society improved the quality of living and made obtaining food easier by presenting guns and knives to the Indians. Spain enriched itself with American furs and exotic items, which compelled the English to begin colonization in the Americas. Because the Spanish viewed the wealth of a colony by how much it exploits Indians and slaves, they continued to trade with the Indians for a long period of time. However, in 1542 new laws prohibited the enslavement of Indians from villages that were paying tribute.
In addition, the English also traded with the Indians greatly but also heavily depended on them in their first few settlements such as Jamestown, Plymouth, and the mysterious Roanoke colony. The English colonists depended heavily on Indians during the winter months for food. Thomas Harriot publicized in his book A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, that Englishmen terrorized and killed innocent Indians without reason. Eventually, the English settlements expanded and more settlements and cities were established. The cultivation of crops such as tobacco, rice, indigo, as well as others resulted in a need for more fertile land in order to sustain the highly valuable crops and sustain the colonial economy.
Many times throughout European colonization in the Americas did conflict arise between the both the Indians and the Spanish and English. Most conflicts sourced from disputes over land. These disputes often led to the slaughtering of hundreds and the enslavement of many, such as, when the English encroached upon Indian land, which led to “King Philips War”. In this war one tenth of the population in New England was killed or wounded, and the war also disbanded the Indian alliance in that region. Many of the surviving Indians of the war were enslaved as a result.
The tolerance of religion along with other cultural aspects differed greatly between Spain and Great Britain. Spain’s goal was to try to convert Indians to Catholicism. They utilized missionaries and violence along with incentives to get Native Americans to convert. The Spanish destroyed villages and erected massive cathedrals and monasteries. However the Spanish allowed the Indians to keep some traditions and aspects of native culture. While puritans and Calvinists attempted to suppress and erase all native religion from converts. A group of people called the Mestizos was also treated differently. Mestizos were mixed people that resulted from sexual relation between the Europeans and the Indians. In Spanish colonies they were treated almost equally to colonists, but in English colonies they were looked down upon.
The English had significant influence on Indian society. They recruited rival tribes to help battle Indian tribes when conflict occurred. For example, the Pequot war against the Tuscarora, the English and rival Algonquians killed most of the tribe and dispersed the remaining survivors to Central New York. The English also implemented important components of English life in Indian culture such as tea drinking. And in order to keep slaves from escaping, they employed Native Americans to catch runaway slaves. But when there was conflict, the English utilized slaves to fight the Indians. This profound use of slaves to combat Indians let the Native Americans distrusting the blacks and led to less slaves finding refuge in Native American villages.
Great Britain and Spain both reciprocated differently to the Indians in North America. Both used violent means to accomplish their goals and both desired to benefit culturally and economically from exploiting the Native Americans. Yet, the Spanish accomplished their goals without eradicating Native culture and society, while the English uprooted and destroyed many indigenous people and traditions. Both nations responses to the native people were abrasive to native society.
