In 1622 Algonquian Native Americans attacked the English colony of Jamestown . They killed the Europeans but brought some of the few African slaves as captives back to their own communities , gradually assimilating them . Interracial relationships continued to take place between Africans ( and later African Americans ) and members of Native American tribes in the coastal states . Although the colonists tried to enslave Native Americans in the early years , they gave it up in the early 18th century . Several colonial advertisements for runaway slaves made direct reference to the connections which Africans had in Native American communities . " Reward notices in colonial newspapers now told of African slaves who ' ran off with his Indian wife ' or ' had kin among the Indians ' or is ' part-Indian and speaks their language good ' . " The British passed laws prohibiting the carrying of slaves into the frontier of the Cherokee Nation 's territory to restrict interactions between the two groups . European colonists told the Cherokee that the smallpox epidemic of 1739 in the Southeast was due to disease brought by African slaves . Some tribes encouraged intermarriage with Africans , with the idea that stronger children would result from the unions
attacked the English colony of Jamestown
Indian massacre of 1622
Black Indians in the United States