This inquiry focuses on the myriad of injustices inflicted upon people of color during the colonial period, and how these early interactions and acts of oppression provided a foundation for the racial injustices still experienced in America today. From Europeans’ first contact with American Indians, to the subjugation of African slaves, a hierarchy based on race was imposed on all who lived in the New World. While interactions between Europeans and American Indians appear cordial and respectful from first glance, these colonists arrived with the intent to extract anything and everything of val