The Development of Slavery

It's worth noting to say that slavery was nothing new-it had existed for thousands of years in both the Old World and the New World. Often slaves were taken as captives in war, or they were criminals or debtors. Both Muslims and Christians had rules about enslaving those of their own religion. There was a thriving slave trade in Africa as well, across the Sahara Desert and from interior regions to the East Coast, where enslaved people (especially the Zanj) were shipped across the Indian Ocean. In the Americas, indigenous groups captured slaves in warfare, sometimes to replace family members who had been killed. That being said, the slave system that developed in the Atlantic World was different from these old systems of slavery. Enslaved people were considered chattel, not people. They were enslaved for life and inherited the mother's status. However, this system did not develop all at once. First, starting with Columbus, Europeans tried enslaving natives. When they died in large numbers, they turned to West Africa, where the Portuguese had already made inroads in the 15th century, taking enslaved Africans to their islands in the Atlantic.

This section will address the development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, mainly focusing on the early Spanish colonies. There are more documents about slavery, including enslaved Indigenous Americans, in the page about the colonies. There are also come documents detailing those few Europeans who actually spoke out against the slave trade on the page about cultural interactions.

"We [therefore] weighing all and singular the premises with due meditation, and noting that since we had formerly by other letters of ours granted among other things free and ample faculty to the aforesaid King Alfonso—to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens (Muslims) and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery."

"I ordered all Indians fourteen years or older to collect three handful quantities of gold every three months for thy Royal Highness. As they bring it, they are given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Those found without tokens shall have one hand cut off as punishment…”

1495: One of Columbus’ associates took 400-500 Native Americans from the Caribbean to Spain for sale as slaves. Half died on arrival.

1499: Amerigo Vespucci “took by force” 232 inhabitants of the Bahamas, 200 of whom lived to be sold as slaves in Spain.

1500: 236 enslaved Native Americans were sent to Spain.

1502: The Portuguese king licensed a company of merchants to send six ships a year to Brazil “to trade in brazilwood and slaves.” From then on, Native Americans were fairly regularly shipped to Portugal.

1503: A Spanish explorer took 600 Native Americans, the majority of whom were sent to Spain.

1514: Twenty-two years after Columbus’ first voyage, the Spanish government counted up the Indians on Hispaniola for the purpose of dividing them among the colonists as laborers. Only 26,000 Taino (natives) remained of the original 500,000. Thirty-four years later, fewer than 500 Taino were alive.

"I ask you to recognize the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the world and in the name of the Pope take the King as lord of this land and obey his mandates [rules]...and be converted to our Holy Catholic Faith...If you do not do it, I tell you that with the help of God I will...make war everywhere and every way that I can. I will subject you to the obedience to the Church and to his majesty [the king]. I will take your women and children and make them slaves. . . . The deaths and injuries that you will receive from here on will be your own fault and not that of his majesty nor of the gentlemen that accompany me. "

“Indeed, there is urgent need for Negro slaves, as I have written to inform His Highness...it is urgent to have them brought. Ships sail from these islands for Seville [city in Spain] to purchase essential goods...which is used as ransom in Cape Verde [Africa] where the goods are traded with the permission of the King of Portugal….let ships go there and bring away as many male and female Negroes as possible, newly imported and between the ages of fifteen to eighteen or twenty years. They will be made to adopt our customs in this island....The burden of work of the Indians will be eased and unlimited amounts of gold will be mined. This is the best land in the world for Negroes, women and men, and it is very rarely that one of these people die.”

As the caravel was voyaging along that sea, those on land [Africans] saw it and marvelled much at the sight, for it seemeth they had never seen or heard speak of the like; and some of them supposed it to be a fish, while others thought it to be a phantom, and others again said it might be a bird that ran so on its journey over that sea. And after reasoning thus concerning the novelty, four of them were bold enough to inform themselves concerning this doubt; and so got into a small boat made out of one hollow tree-trunk without anything else being added thereto...And they came a good way out towards where the caravel was pursuing its course; and those in her could not restrain themselves from appearing on deck. But when the negroes saw that those in the ship were men, they made haste to flee as best they could; and though the caravel followed after them, the want of a sufficient wind prevented their capture. And as they [Portuguese] went further on, they met with other boats, whose crews, seeing ours to be men, were alarmed at the novelty of the sight; and moved by fear they sought to flee, each and all; but because our men had a better opportunity than before, they captured four of them, and these were the first to be taken by Christians in their own land, and there is no chronicle or history that relateth aught to the contrary.

And for certain this was no small honour for our Prince [Henry], whose mighty power was thus sufficient to command peoples so far from our kingdom, making booty among the neighbours of the land of Egypt; and Dinis Diaz ought to share in this honour, for he was the first who (by his [Prince Henry’s] command) captured Moors in that land. And now he pushed on till he arrived at a great cape, to which they gave the name of Cape Verde.

“All the settlers of Hispaniola beg Your Highness to give them permission to import Negro slaves, because they say that the Indians do not provide them with enough labor to be able to support themselves there. . . . [I]t seemed to all of us [three monks who served as the island’s governors] that it would be good for them to be imported…”

Now if we shall have shown that among our Indians of the western and southern shores there are important kingdoms, large numbers of people who live settled lives in a society, great cities, kings, judges and laws, persons who engage in commerce, buying, selling, lending, and the other contracts of the law of nations, will it not stand proved that the Reverend Doctor Sepulveda has spoken wrongly and viciously against peoples like these...From the fact that the Indians are barbarians it does not necessarily follow that they are incapable of government and have to be ruled by others...They are not ignorant, inhuman, or bestial. Rather, long before they had heard the word Spaniard they had properly organized states, wisely ordered by excellent laws, religion, and custom. They cultivated friendship and, bound together in common fellowship, lived in populous cities in which they wisely administered the affairs of both peace and war justly and equitably, truly governed by laws that at very many points surpass ours…

In that year of 1500…, the King determined to send a new governor to Hispaniola, which at the time was the only seat of government in the Indies. The new governor was fray Nicolas de Ovando, Knight of Alcantara, and at that time comendador [Spanish title granted to an individual with authority to rule an encomienda] of Lares.

At first, the Indians were forced to stay six months away at work; later, the time was extended to eight months and this was called a shift, at the end of which they brought all the gold for minting...Of those who had worked in the mines, a bare 10 per cent survived to start the journey home. Many Spaniards had no scruples about making them work on Sundays and holidays, if not in the mines then on minor tasks such as building and repairing houses, carrying firewood, etc...

Even beasts enjoy more freedom when they are allowed to graze in the fields…When they fell ill...the Spaniards did not believe them and pitilessly called them lazy dogs, and kicked and beat them; and when illness was apparent they sent them home as useless, giving them some cassava for the twenty- to eighty-league journey. They would go then, falling into the first stream and dying there in desperation; others would hold on longer but very few ever made it home. I sometimes came upon dead bodies on my way, and upon others who were gasping and moaning in their death agony, repeating "Hungry, hungry." And this was the freedom, the good treatment and the Christianity that Indians received.

...The multitude of people who originally lived on this island…was consumed at such a rate that in those eight years 90% had perished. From here this sweeping plague went to San Juan, Jamaica, Cuba and the continent, spreading destruction over the whole hemisphere.

. . . For God’s sake and man’s faith in him, is this the way to impose the yoke of Christ on Christian men? Is this the way to remove wild barbarism from the minds of barbarians? Let all savagery and apparatus of war, which are better suited to Muslims than Christians, be done away with. Let upright heralds be sent to proclaim Jesus Christ in their way of life and to convey the attitudes of Peter and Paul. The Indians will embrace the teaching of the gospel, as I well know, for they are not stupid or barbarous but have a native sincerity and are simple, moderate, and meek, and, finally, such that I do not know whether there is any people readier to receive the gospel...The Indian race is not that barbaric, nor are they dull witted or stupid, but they are easy to teach and very talented in learning all the liberal arts, and very ready to accept, honor, and observe the Christian religion and correct their sins...before the coming of the Spaniards, as we have said, they had political states that were well founded on beneficial laws. Furthermore, they are so skilled in every mechanical art that with every right they should be set ahead of all the nations of the known world on this score, so very beautiful in their skill and artistry are the things this people produces in the grace of its architecture, its painting, and its needlework.

As if these things do not reflect inventiveness, ingenuity, industry, and right reason….In the liberal arts that they have been taught up to now, such as grammar and logic, they are remarkably adept. With every kind of music they charm the ears of their audience with wonderful sweetness. They write skillfully and quite elegantly, so that most often we are at a loss to know whether the characters are handwritten or printed. . . .

The Indians are our brothers, and Christ has given his life for them. Why, then, do we persecute them with such inhuman savagery when they do not deserve such treatment? The past, because it cannot be undone, must be attributed to our weakness, provided that what has been taken unjustly is restored...

“The African slave traders go far into the interior to acquire slaves...Slaves are brought to the coast in several ways: three or four will be conducted by around 20 traders. Five or six of these traders march in front . . . the others follow, and since the trail is very narrow . . . it is difficult to escape. . . . . for those who try to resist, they tightly tie their arms behind their backs with a rope . . .”

“The discovery of the Americas provided the Old World with vast quantities of relatively unpopulated land well-suited for the cultivation of certain crops that were in high demand in Old World markets. Crops such as sugar, coffee, soybeans, oranges, and bananas were all introduced to the New World, and the Americas quickly became the main suppliers of these crops globally.”

Animals were also a key part of the Columbian Exchange. Horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle were all European animals that flourished rapidly in the Americas because they were able to reproduce without being hindered by predators. The horse, too, was also a very useful animal as it helped with battle; it allowed for faster travel, it allowed for the surprising of opponents, and allowed people to fight from a higher level.

Using fire and slash and burn agriculture, indigenous people in the Americas cleared large areas for agriculture and hunting, as shown in this map of North America’s eastern seaboard. Indians often set fires to clear farmland, which generated rich soil. and to open areas that attracted deer and other animals to hunting grounds.

On the left is deforestation around the time of European arrival, when many different native societies dominated the east coast. By 1650, these areas once created by natives had grown back because many societies had been wiped out due to European diseases or forced to leave. However, in the long term, there was increased deforestation. Before the settlers arrived, the United States had about one billion acres of forests, which covered about half of the country, including Alaska. In the time since 1600, it would be reduced by about 286 million acres (an area roughly the size of Colombia), converted to mostly agricultural use. 90% of the old-growth forests that once were expansive over the Continental US have been burned, logged, and cleared away. And, not so coincidentally, 90% of the land that was once occupied by Native American tribes has been taken by colonial powers.

“Beyond acts of individual cruelty, the Spanish disrupted the Native ecosystem and culture. Forcing Indians to work in mines rather than in their gardens led to widespread malnutrition. The intrusion of rabbits and livestock caused further ecological disaster. Diseases new to the Americas played a huge role…estimates of Haiti’s pre-Columbian population range as high as eight million people…Bartholomew took a census of Indian adults in 1496 and came up with 1.1 million." -James Loewen

"Spanish cruelty played its part in the calamity, but its larger cause was the Columbian Exchange. Before Columbus none of the epidemic diseases common in Europe and Asia existed in the Americas. The viruses that cause smallpox, influenza, hepatitis, measles, encephalitis, and viral pneumonia; the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, diphtheria, cholera, typhus, scarlet fever, and bacterial meningitis — by a quirk of evolutionary history, all were unknown in the Western Hemisphere. Shipped across the ocean from Europe these maladies consumed Hispaniola’s (present day Haiti) native population." -Charles Mann

Catholicism in the Americas: Making America (secondary)

“The Catholic Church played an important role in Spanish colonial society. In places like New Mexico and California, the church built missions, settlements that included a church, a town, and farmlands. The goal of the missions was to convert Native Americans to Christianity. The missions also increased Spanish control over the land. Missionaries helped the Native Americans to create a better supply of food. They also offered Native Americans protection against enemies. Many Native Americans learned how to read and write in the missions. Others developed skills such as carpentry and metalworking. Over time, however, many Native Americans grew increasingly unhappy. The missionaries often worked them as if they were slaves. The missionaries also tried to replace Native American religions and traditions.”

New Tastes: Commodities