White Slavery: Americans and Colonists Abducted by Native Americans

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HIST 2302-SA01 White Slavery: Americans and Colonists Abducted by Native Americans In 1492, when Christopher Columbus first came in contact with native people, he wrote: (sic) “They all go around as naked as their mothers bore them; and also the women.” He also noted that “they could easily be commanded and made to work, to sow and to do whatever might be needed, to build towns and be taught to wear clothes and adopt our ways,” and, “they are the best people in the world and above all the gentlest” (Weiser, 2012). Indigenous people in the United States were first referred to as Indians because Columbus believed he had reached the East Indies when he touched the shores of North America (Stuart). The foreigners brought horses to American and this made the lives of the Indians easier. With horses they were able to travel further distances in shorter periods of time. They were also able to hunt more, sometimes killing enough game in one day to last months. The Comanche especially had become so adept on the horse that they fought exclusively on horseback. No other tribe equaled their talent (Gwynne, 2010). The French and Indian War, as it was referred to in the colonies, was the beginning of open aggression between the colonies and Great Britain. Tension had been building in America between Great Britain and France since 1689. The colonies grew at an exceptional rate from a population of 250,000 in 1700, to 1.25 million in 1750. Britain required raw materials including copper, hemp, tar, and turpentine. They also required a great deal of money, and so they stipulated that all of these American products be shipped exclusively to England (Kindig, 2011). According to our text, Europeans immigrated to North America during the 1800's for many reasons, which included religious freedom and the thought that America was filled with jewels and gold; there were lots of forests,
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