Lesson 3: Early Interactions

Contextualization: Pueblo Revolt

Discussion: 

1. In what ways do the Pueblo Revolt and King Philip’s War illustrate Native American strategies of resistance to European colonization, and how did the outcomes of each shape future Native-colonial relations?

2. How does Bacon’s Rebellion reflect different internal challenges within English colonies compared to the external threats posed by Native resistance in King Philip’s War and the Pueblo Revolt?

3. What do these three conflicts reveal about the larger forces shaping colonial America in the late 1600s—such as land ownership, labor systems, race, class, and imperial control?

Context: In New Mexico, the Spanish imposed forced labor (encomienda, repartimiento), suppressed Native religion, and disrupted Pueblo society.

Event: Under the leadership of Popé, Pueblo peoples coordinated a widespread uprising, driving the Spanish out for over a decade.

Significance:

• Demonstrates Native American resistance to European colonization.

• Shows how cultural suppression and labor exploitation fueled conflict.

• Illustrates both Native agency and the limits of Spanish imperial control.