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In “Chapter Five” of The Atlantic World, the main focus is labor, migration, and settlement and how they are all interlaced to one another. It led to Indian, European, and African migrants being linked and dictated by the demand of labor (150). The chapter opens up with the story of Barbara Rolfe, a woman who was forced by her father to live in the new English colonies in North America. According to her father George, he had no other choice for his daughter who disobeyed him and the new colonies offered solutions for her. The story of Barbara Rolfe reflects the stories of numerous others who were forced to migrate because of labor. Other causes for labor were “economic cycles, population growth and collapse, declining opportunities for employment and marriage, domestic discord, death of a parent, custom, war, invasion, [and] deception” (149). The tasks the labor demanded were beyond what any human could perform, which means the laborers were forced to get it done. Egerton says, “migration and labor were linked to the commodities and minerals of the Atlantic and the consumer tastes and commercial demands” (150). In the Caribbean, the Spanish created the encomienda system, which “marshaled labor through village leaders” (150). Also, Queen Isabella later accepted “just war” that allowed enslavement of anyone who rejected Spanish dominion and Christianity (151). The Requirement was a document that conquerors read to natives, saying that “Spaniards would not compel conversion” but “required [them] to recognize Spain’s sovereignty and the right of missionaries to preach” (151).
Once again, the chapter focused on labor, migration and settlement. It reinforces the idea of the book that the Atlantic World was a time of exchange of people, commodities, and ideas. The interactions between the different people and places created a coherent region that changed the course of history. Migration in America helped Indians avoid the Europeans. These actions caused a small yet significant Indian population. The different colonist had different ways in which they settled in the Americas. The English were agricultural labors who focused on the West. They consisted of British and Irish settlers. However, the Spanish settled in urban areas, settling in Indian towns. The Spaniards recreated life in the cities as they knew it. They extracted agricultural surpluses and labor from the native populations. The different societies came together in various ways. Brought up by Enrique Angulo’s post about “Chapter Two” of Lauren Benton’s A Search for Sovereignty, the European expeditions provided opportunity of exploration. The chapter is eye opening to say the least. It shows the different interactions between the many people in the Americas and their reasoning for migrating. However, it did come off across as native populations being passive and having events happen to them rather than them being active players.