2. Native Enslavement by Europeans
European colonists quickly began enslaving Native Americans to meet the growing demand for labor in their colonies. From the 16th century onward, thousands of indigenous people were captured in raids and sold into slavery, both locally and across the Atlantic. This practice, detailed in historical records, disrupted tribal societies and set a precedent for later forms of enslavement. The forced migration and exploitation of Native peoples became an early chapter in a much larger, global system of human trafficking.
