Which countries were the first to exploit Native American and African slave labor?

The correct answer is Spain and Portugal because these two nations were the pioneers in the transatlantic slave trade and the exploitation of Native American and African slave labor during the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries.

In the early stages of European colonization in the Americas, Spain established vast colonies and was the first to utilize enslaved Native Americans for labor in extracting resources, particularly in gold and silver mining. After witnessing the devastating impact of European diseases on Indigenous populations, which drastically reduced their numbers, they turned to African slaves as a more sustainable source of labor for plantations and mines.

Portugal, on the other hand, was instrumental in the early capture and transport of African slaves to labor on sugar plantations, especially in their Brazilian colonies. Being located along the West African coast, Portuguese traders exploited existing African slave networks and established one of the first substantial routes for transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.

Together, Spain and Portugal laid the groundwork for the slave trade and the systematic exploitation of both Native and African populations, influencing the economic and social structures that emerged in the Americas, which would have lasting repercussions on subsequent generations and colonial powers.