Starting in 1492, with the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the North and South Americas went through a period of colonization and conquest. Spanish conquistadors spread the Spanish Empire all throughout the “New World”, conquering half of South America and majorities of Central and North America. Along with the Spaniards, several other European nations competed to colonize in the Americas to boost their national economies. Following that, the Portuguese conquered parts of present-day Brazil and other parts of South America. The British empire eventually colonized the thirteen colonies along the east coast of North America. France spread its empire to present day eastern Canada and Mideastern United States. Millions of colonists immigrated to the Americas in hopes of creating new agricultural plantations and industries to trade with European nations. To satisfy the demand for the labor needed to work, slaves and Indians were utilized.
The Spanish empire implemented a unique system of slavery, called the encomienda system. This was a legal system that defined the status and rights of the Indian population in their colonies. Designed to provide workers for the mining economy, the encomienda system incentivized colonists to use more native labor in low-revenue productivity areas. Starting in 1503, the crown issued a grant to colonists to permit them to demand tribute, mostly in the form of labor, in exchange to teach the natives how to abide by the Christian faith. Using this method, Spaniards believed that rather than enslaving Indians, they were spreading the knowledge of Christianity (Yeager). In addition to using this system, Spanish colonists also had several slaves working on sugar cane plantations. In 1501, King Ferdinand signed an Asiento, opening up the Atlantic slave trade for Spanish colonies. These slaves were used to develop agriculture, protect Spanish settlements, and building forts or buildings in the colony. Although they were at the lowest social class on the encomienda system, the Spanish crown still recognized slaves as “unfortunate persons” who had legal rights. Therefore, slaves were permitted to sue their owners in court and own property.
Similar to the Spanish colonies, the Portuguese colonies in Brazil required labor in their agricultural plantations. Upon arrival in 1500, the colonists did not find developed Indian civilizations, unlike those that Spain had colonized. Therefore, Brazil Indians were hunter gatherers, very uncivilized, and highly susceptible to Western diseases. Due to these factors, Portuguese colonists could not use Indians for slave labor, and instead had to import African slaves. Some of the preexisting tribes in the area already employed a system of slavery, in which they made captured rival tribe members become their servants. These tribes often traded these prisoners with the Portuguese colonists in exchange for European goods. Brazil’s growing economy in sugar production as well as gold and diamond mining relied greatly on slave labor. As the economy became more developed, the Portuguese implemented new forms of transportation for colonists to travel between the colony. Slaves were given the menial construction tasks and also had to serve as defense for the colonies (PortCities Bristol). Eventually, slaves were also given the role of working in the coffee bean agricultural plantations and had to herd cattle as colonists started to settle down. Portugal imported the most slaves out of any other European nation during the Atlantic Slave trade era and are estimated to have traded around 4.7 million slaves to their colony.
Unlike the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, England established colonies in North America along the east coast. Starting with the Jamestown colony, the British empire went on to colonize a total of thirteen colonies. These colonies were made up of immigrants who had fled from Europe for religious persecution or wanted to start a new life in America. Many English colonists bought into the idea of mercantilism, a national policy that encourages exports. This caused landowners to start producing raw materials to export from the colonies to England. As this took place, there was an increased demand for labor to sustain this mercantilist economy, therefore colonists began to use slaves. Unlike the Spanish and Portugal colonies, the British colonies did not have large supplies of gold and diamonds, nor did they have the fertile lands to base their economy off sugar production. Instead, British colonial economy diversified greatly and were involved in providing timber for ships, grains, tobacco, indigo, and other raw materials (Matson). As colonial economy became more powerful and mercantilism increased, the need for labor grew as well. One of the methods European colonists were able to keep up with the demand was by slavery. The triangular trade proved to be one of the best methods to uphold the mercantilism economy and also provide the labor needed for colonies. Raw materials were taken back to Great Britain, produced into British goods, then traded for slaves on the coasts of Africa, and finally traded back to the colonies for raw materials. This ongoing cycle led to a drastic increase of slaves in North America. In addition to slaves, colonists had complicated relationships with the native Indians. Unlike the Spanish colonies, British colonies didn’t enslave the native Indians, but rather promoted trade and cooperation between them. As a result, Colonial England economy depended heavily on slavery in the production of raw material for trade.
France was one of the last European nations to colonize in North America and established a region known as New France, consisting of 5 independent colonies. Similar to British colonies, France promoted the development of mercantilism within its colonies. Southern colonies took part in sugar production, but the majority of French colonial economy was based on the fur trade. Unlike the hostile relationships that Spain and Portugal had with native Americans, French colonists had much friendlier relationships and did not enslave them, instead promoting their mercantilism economy by trading with them. However, to fulfill the demand for labor in the French colonies in South America and Latin America, it needed to use slaves. In French society, slaveowners had to follow the Le Code Noir, also known as The Black Code, which regulated the purchase, life, death, religion, and treatment of slaves (Buchanan). Unlike the severe treatment that other European nations gave to their slaves, France had defined a structure of regulations that allowed some basic rights.
Overall, as European nations began colonizing the Americas and developing new industries and agricultural plantations, the demand for labor increased. To strengthen colonial economies and supply labor to colonists, slaves were used in all European colonies. Native Americans were also a key component in colonial economies, serving as enslaved workers in Spanish colonies or being key trading partners for British and French colonies. Together, slavery and Native Americans fulfilled many of the demands of the growing colonial economies.