Question

Explain why enslaving the Indigenous peoples of the Americas was largely unsuccessful in filling the need of the plantations.(1 point)

European colonizers’ cruelty, as well as the spread of disease, meant that many Indigenous people died. As a result, there were not enough people left for colonizers to enslave.

European colonizers’ cruelty meant that many people—Indigenous people as well as colonizers—died. As a result, there were not enough people left to enslave.

Slavery did not exist in the Americas at the time of European colonization.

European colonizers were kind to Indigenous peoples. As a result, the colonizers did not want to enslave Indigenous peoples.

Answer 1

European colonizers’ cruelty, as well as the spread of Old World diseases, devastated Indigenous populations. Because so many Indigenous people died or were weakened, there were not enough left to supply plantation labor — so option 1 is correct.