The Repartimento system of forced labor was prevalent throughout much of Spain’s American Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The system was established whenever a Spanish settlement happened to be set up near an existing native community. The native people were rotated between various jobs, mostly agriculture, construction and mining. Due to the high rate of desertion, the system was largely replaced by the more permanent Encomienda system, which even more closely resembled slavery.

The Repartimento system of forced labor was prevalent throughout much of Spain’s American Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The system was established whenever a Spanish settlement happened to be set up near an existing native community. The native people were rotated between various jobs, mostly agriculture, construction and mining. Due to the high rate of desertion, the system was largely replaced by the more permanent Encomienda system, which even more closely resembled slavery.

French settlers primarily occupied the southern regions of what is now Canada, establishing fur trading communities with the Native American tribes who already existed in the region. The French rarely attacked or plundered Native American communities, preferring to establish positive trading rights. Likewise, the French expended little effort to permanently settle new communities, and their objections to English and Spanish settlements were voiced only when the English threatened the lucrative fur trade.

French settlers primarily occupied the southern regions of what is now Canada, establishing fur trading communities with the Native American tribes who already existed in the region. The French rarely attacked or plundered Native American communities, preferring to establish positive trading rights. Likewise, the French expended little effort to permanently settle new communities, and their objections to English and Spanish settlements were voiced only when the English threatened the lucrative fur trade.

The Economienda System dictated that Native Americans were lesser peoples, afforded the same status as other inferior races, and were free to be used as slaves to further the goals of Spanish Empire. The repeal of the system, at this insistence of several Spanish missionaries, helped lead to the massive influx of slaves from Africa to replace the work that had previously been done by Native Americans. One missionary would famously state that his work to free the Native Americans was the biggest mistake he ever made, as their population was ultimately ravaged by Smallpox anyway and the repeal of the Economienda System led directly to the massive use of African slaves in the New World

The Economienda System dictated that Native Americans were lesser peoples, afforded the same status as other inferior races, and were free to be used as slaves to further the goals of Spanish Empire. The repeal of the system, at this insistence of several Spanish missionaries, helped lead to the massive influx of slaves from Africa to replace the work that had previously been done by Native Americans. One missionary would famously state that his work to free the Native Americans was the biggest mistake he ever made, as their population was ultimately ravaged by Smallpox anyway and the repeal of the Economienda System led directly to the massive use of African slaves in the New World

The economic policy of Mercantilism was designed around the premise that the colonies existed to build up the supply of gold in Empire. To achieve this goal a nation had to build up a favorable balance of trade by exporting more than it imported. The primacy of this belief in Europe helped foster the dramatic race for Empire around the globe as each additional resource, manufacturing centre and market helped contribute to the balance of trade. New England shipbuilders benefitted from the Navigation Acts because they protected their enterprise from foreign competition. Southerners found the market for their goods shrinking as it could only be shipped to England, which in turn encouraged smuggling. Conversely, far from being brought closer together, the English and French colonies began to fight extensively in the mid-eighteenth century as English settlers began to spread North and West into French lands.

Bacon’s Rebellion took place in Virginia, in 1676. It was an armed uprising by indentured servants, poor settlers and slaves against the rule of Virginia Governor William Berkeley. The rebellion began because Berkeley failed to provide for the safety of the colonists against Native American incursions, and because the poorer classes in the colonies—both black and white—were disturbed by the strict hierarchical nature of colonial Virginian society. The makeshift alliance between black slaves and white indentured servants disturbed the ruling classes greatly, and it caused a massive reduction in the use of indentured servants for labor, leading to a hardening of the racial hierarchy of colonial America—particularly in the South.

The headright system was a system of land grants that were used to expand the population of the original thirteen colonies. It functioned differently in different areas of colonial America, but the principle was essentially the same throughout: an established settlement, like Jamestown or Plymouth, would award newly arriving settlers with a fifty acre tract of land to encourage settlement. Further, to encourage families and wealthy land owners to settle in the colonies, an individual would be awarded an additional fifty acres for each individual he brought along with him.

The London Company, often called the Virginia Company of London, was established by King James I in 1606 with the expressed purpose of establishing colonies in North America. The London Company provided financial backing for the Jamestown and Plymouth experiments that later led to the creation of Massachusetts and Virginia.