Final answer:
The encroachment of English colonists on native lands in Virginia resulted in significant conflicts, including the Anglo-Powhatan Wars, with severe consequences for the indigenous populations. The native resistance was fierce but ultimately led to their defeat and the transformation of their societies.
Step-by-step explanation:
By 1670, the encroachment of English settlers on Native American land in Virginia led to a series of conflicts known as the Anglo-Powhatan Wars. The expansion into the interior and the colonists' insatiable demand for land resulted in frequent clashes with indigenous tribes such as the Powhatan Confederacy. Despite attempts at trade and accommodating relations, the English colonists' introduction of new diseases, concepts of land ownership, and cultivation practices exacerbated tensions, causing devastating impacts on native populations.
Wars such as King Philip's War arose from longstanding native grievances against the English, including land usurpation and dishonest trades. These conflicts typically resulted in higher casualties among the native populations, with the relative native power diminishing significantly by the conclusion of the Seven Years War. With escalating European colonization, the Colonial era in Virginia saw native resistance transform from recurring skirmishes to large-scale wars that ultimately led to the natives' defeat and the disruption of their traditional ways of life.