Page "Atlantic slave trade" Paragraph 17

However, it was not just along the west African coast, but also in the Americas that Europeans began searching for commercial viability.

European Christendom first became aware of the existence of the Americas after they were discovered by an expedition led by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

As in Africa however, the indigenous peoples widely resisted European incursions into their territory during the first few centuries of contact, being somewhat effective in doing so.

In the Caribbean, Spanish settlers were only able to secure control over the larger islands by allying themselves with certain Native American tribal groups in their conflicts with neighbouring societies.

Groups such as the Kulinago of the Lesser Antilles and the Carib and Arawak people of ( what is now ) Venezuela launched effective counter attacks against Spanish bases in the Caribbean, with native-built boats, which were smaller and better suited to the seas around the islands, achieving success on a number of cases at defeating the Spanish ships.