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There were even Native Americans shipped out of colonies like South Carolina into slavery in other places, like Canada. As a result of the wars between the European nations, Native Americans allied with the losing side were often indentured or enslaved. With the population sick and decreasing, it became more and more difficult to mount an opposition to European expansion.Īnother aspect of the colonial era that made the Native Americans vulnerable was the slave trade. Though many epidemics happened prior to the colonial era in the 1500s, several large epidemics occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries among various Native American populations. 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. 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. This caused rifts that kept some Native American tribes from working together to stop European takeover. Another consequence of allying with Europeans was that Native Americans were often fighting neighboring tribes. Europeans continued to enter the country following the French and Indian War, and they continued their aggression against Native Americans. The English-allied Native Americans were given part of that land, which they hoped would end European expansion-but unfortunately only delayed it. The English won the war, and claimed all of the land east of the Mississippi River. The English allied with the Iroquois Confederacy, while the Algonquian-speaking tribes joined forces with the French and the Spanish.
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Some famous alliances were formed during the French and Indian War of 1754–1763.
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In the 17th century, as European nations scrambled to claim the already occupied land in the “New World,” some leaders formed alliances with Native American nations to fight foreign powers. But problems arose for the Native Americans, which held them back from their goal, including new diseases, the slave trade, and the ever-growing European population in North America. They resisted the efforts of the Europeans to gain more of their land and control through both warfare and diplomacy. During the colonial period, Native Americans had a complicated relationship with European settlers.