Native Americans were the first peoples to inhabit America, but it was not until thousands of years later that the Europeans arrived in America. The Europeans and Native Americans met and started to teach the other of their culture and lifestyles. Although both groups had a mutual interest in one another, conflict quickly began to rise and form a long lasting battle for land and control of territories. Spain was the first European country to venture west and happen to “bump into” North America. Indians greeted the Spanish when they arrived, but they insisted on using violent force against the Indians to explore the Caribbean islands. Native peoples were killed or enslaved and faced encomienda, a forced labor to Spaniards who believed themselves to be the new land owners.
The Spanish brought more than only vicious, greedy, selfish men to North America, they also brought many diseases that Native Americans had not yet been exposed to known as the Virgin Soil Epidemic. Viruses weakened any chance of revolt that Indians may have had against the Spaniards. As a result many of the Indians chose to take their own lives. This seemed to be the best option when being killed or hard labor were the only other possibilities. The most violent invaders were the Spanish, but other colonists were cruel and unjust as well. The English began sending young, single men across the Atlantic Ocean to colonize the newly discovered land.
The English established their first permanent settlement in Jamestown Virginia in 1607. The colonists traveled to the new world with inadequate amounts of supplies, forcing them to have civil relationships with the Indians. Native Americans willingly shared their food and taught the English new farming techniques for American crops.