What kind of treatment was given to natives by the British?

Answer 1

It depends on the period you are referring to in your question, and also which natives you are referring to. The British occupied a lot of countries, many with natives.

North America

When the British set up their first colony in the Americas, they sought friendly relations with the natives and openly traded with them. The British settlers would trade metals, swords, guns, tools, horses and so on in return for Native spices, medicines and more.

Early British anthropologists also freely studied the lifestyles of the natives.

The British also had a specific close alliance with the Inuit natives, whom helped the British capture French forts and taught the British the art of silent warfare. In return, the British actually gave some of these captured forts and previously French lands to the Inuits to settle on themselves.

Much later however, when the British, Spanish and French expanded their occupation of the Americas, the natives were not very happy with their lands being settled on or all the wars between the three nations over those settlements. This prompted most of the natives to form alliances with each other and attack the British, Spanish and French, using the weapons and horses that were traded with them during friendlier times.

In response to this, some, but not all, British colonies attacked the natives back, often winning and burning whole native tribes to the ground, considering the British were around 600 years more technologically advanced than the natives. Some surviving natives were kept as slaves, usually the women and children. You need to bear in mind that not all British colonies attacked the natives, the British colonies who did, felt they had no choice but to defend their families and children. Because the natives included women and children as their victims, the natives became labelled as "savages" and "barbarians" by the British, who believed it is wrong to involve women and children in warfare. By labelling them as savages, it generated more hatred towards the natives, not just from the British, but also from the French and Spanish, who were also under constant attack from tribes that were previously friendly.

During the Imperialism periods of the American occupation, the British (and French and Spanish) sought to remove the natives from the lands and take full control of them. Many tribes became victims of genocide or were captured as slaves, by either of the three warring nations.

Maybe if the natives were not provoked into attacking, things would be different today.

When Britain gained complete control of the Americas, they sought to patch up some of their relations with the natives, but not all tribes accepted their diplomacy, because they were still being moved out of their settlements and into reservations by the British. Many natives however formed alliances with the British because they wanted the bloodshed to end and realised that the British are far too powerful to overcome, considering they defeated not only the natives, but also the French and Spanish.

When the American Revolution began, the British side recruited natives into their military ranks to help defend what was, back then, lands that belonged to the British and natives. At the same time, some of the rebels also hired natives.

When the British lost control of the Americas and retreated to Canada, the new American government passed a law stating that all men are equal, except slaves and Native Americans.

The American government, after the British lost the war, treated the natives far, far worse than the British ever did. If the British won the war, the natives would most likely still have more control over the Americas than they do today, because the British always sought to aid the native populations of the countries they occupied (see India below for example).

India

When the British East India Trading Company was founded in India, they took lands from Indian gangs and natives by trickery, lies or bribes. If they didn't fall for these, they used force to remove them. The main purpose of the East India Trading Company was profit. The natives were treated terribly by the company and left in poor conditions. In 1857 the Opium Wars began, in which the Indian natives of India slaughtered the British, cut up their bodies and threw them down wells.

When the British government became aware of the practices of the company, they sent the British Army and British Royal Navy to seize control of the East India Trading Company. When they did so, the wars and rebellions against the company stopped. The Indians accepted the British government control of the company, because they treated the Indians much better. The Indians were treated equally by the British government, all Indian slaves captured by the trading company were released and many of the British slave traffickers executed by the British Army. The Indians accepted Queen Victoria as the Empress of India.

The British were also so impressed with their fighting skills that they actually founded British-owned Indian military regiments. The British taught the Indians their military secrets and the Indians taught the British their military secrets.

So, at first when the East India Trading Company turned up, the natives were not treated very well at all, they were tricked, killed or enslaved. The British government learnt what was happening in India during the rebellions against the company, so the British military moved in and captured the company. Since then relations improved, the Indians accepted the British and became an important part of the British Empire, trade-wise and military-wise.

The Indian military today is one of the most recognised and advanced military forces on the planet and have the British to thank for that.

Australia

When the British arrived in Australia, the native population was seen to be so small that the British at first thought, and therefore declared, that Australia was an empty unclaimed land, therefore no treaties were made with the initial natives they met.

Soon however they realised that there are actually many native tribes on the island. The British discovered Australia at a time of exploration rather than a time of warfare. Therefore the British on the most part sought to establish diplomatic treaties with the natives to allow them to explore the lands.

One major consequence of the British settlements however was disease. The British brought smallpox and disease-carrying rats with them, which caused a population decline amongst the natives who were not immune to the diseases.

The British were at first very friendly with the natives and traded them things such as axes, cloths and food (the natives were hunter-gatherers and fishermen, so they were amazed to discover foods from other continents which the British brought with them).

However, when the natives realised that the British were expanding over large chunks of their lands, they disliked it and turned hostile. They then began to attack the British settlers, forcing the British to attack back in defence. However, there was no hatred or plans for complete annihilation of the natives.

Instead, aside from attacking in defence, the British tried to find peaceful ways to end the hostilities between them and the natives. To do this, they built schools for the native children. The British also gave away free livestock, food and seed to the natives, teaching them agriculture and animal domestication. They also showed them how to build sturdy buildings.

Many of the natives accepted the British as a result of the teaching of new things. However, some still did not accept the British. This forced the governor at the time, Governor Macquarie, to enforce a law stating all Australian natives are British citizens, forcing them into the way of British life.

These are just three examples. If you wish to know about natives in Another Country or area, please re-ask the question with the specifics.