The Role Of Native Americans In The 17th And 18th Century

During the early 17th and 18th century, indigenous Native American tribes, English colonists, and West Africans were scattered across the Potomac Region of the United States. Native Americans of the Potomac region lived in villages, particularly Nacotchtanke and Nameroughquena. The Indians relied on agriculture as a means of survival—they grew crops, hunted animals, and caught fish, using their own technology. After settling in Jamestown, Virginia, English colonists were desperate to discover “instant wealth” by searching for gold and participating in the trans-Atlantic trade. Soon the Europeans would learn to earn a living through interactions with the indigenous peoples, who showed them that farming, manufacturing, and trading was the ideal path to follow. Initially, West Africans arrived in the Potomac region as indentured servants to work on tobacco plantations, but were later subjected to slavery, a cruel institution prejudiced towards people with darker skin tones and different ethnic backgrounds. The settlements in the early 17th and 18th century sparked an economic relief for European colonists, who manipulated the knowledge of the Native Americans and labor of

West Africans to develop the District area through the production of tobacco.
The developments of the indigenous peoples helped them to sustain life and trade with others.

As mentioned before, Indians relied on agriculture to survive, using bows and arrows to hunt wild animals and hooks to catch fish. According to the text, women tended crops and prepared then stored them into grass-woven baskets. Indians or different locations would trade with each other using wampum, Indian shell money, to gain valuable goods. For example, the Nacostins would trade their excess grain and meat for furs, copper, and bead jewelry. Consequently, the English settlers saw the Indian’s produce and wanted to trade other goods for food and furs. Thus, this lead to a successful trade between the Indians and Europeans, which would serve as a foundation for economic development in the District

area.
In hopes to find riches, European settlers searched for gold, but instead found insight from the Indians, who taught them about the Potomac region. As a result, the English began farming, trading, and manufacturing to make a living.The colonists began cultivating tobacco, exporting it back to England in great quantities. For instance, in 1629 1.5 million pounds of tobacco was sent out to England; moreover, this denotes the economic development of the Potomac region. To further advance the colony’s economy, English men and women migrated to Virginia to work in exchange for land. The expansion of the English colony called for more labor at a cheaper price. Soon the English would resort to enslaving Africans and force them to work.