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LABOR IN THE NEW WORLD In 1492 on October 12, Christopher Columbus sighted the islands of the Caribbean Sea. Columbus was hoping to establish new trade routes with Asia. This was his first contact with Native Americans. He found them pleasant with good looks. Columbus and his crew, although faced with language difficulties, communicated with the Native Americans. In the early days most people spent most of their time producing and gathering food. The Native Americans traded …

…from each other. Many of the Native Americans and Africans died do to disease from the Europeans or from the stress of hard work the Europeans put them under. All three groups did manual labor, even children and women worked on the plantations. Slavery was in full force during these early years. Many blacks were in bondage, some for a lifetime. Agriculture, fishing, and trading fur were a large part of the economy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**