Slavery in Pre-Columbian America explained

Slavery was widely practiced by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, both prior to European colonisation and subsequently.

Slavery and related practices of forced labor varied greatly between regions and over time. In some instances, traditional practices may have continued after European colonisation.

North America

Slaves were traded across trans-continental trade networks in North America before European arrival.[1]

Many of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, such as the Haida and Tlingit, were traditionally known as fierce warriors and slave-traders, raiding as far south as California.[2] [3] [4] Slavery was hereditary, the slaves being prisoners of war. Their targets often included members of the Coast Salish groups. Among some tribes about a quarter of the population were slaves.[5] [6] One slave narrative was composed by an Englishman, John R. Jewitt, who had been taken alive when his ship was captured in 1802; his memoir provides a detailed look at life as a slave, and explains that among his slavemasters, the main tribal chief had 50 slaves and his deputies up to a dozen each.[7]

The Pawnee of the Great Plains, the Iroquois of the state of New York, and the Yurok and Klamath of California, were known to keep slaves.[8] [9]

Mesoamerica and Caribbean

See also: Aztec slavery.

In Mesoamerica, the most common forms of slavery were those of prisoners of war and debtors. People unable to pay back debts could be sentenced to work as slaves to the persons owed until the debts were worked off. Enslavement was also a possible sentence for the crimes of thievery, rape and poaching.[10]

The Mayan[11] and Aztec civilizations both practiced slavery. Warfare was important to Maya society, because raids on surrounding areas provided the victims required for human sacrifice, as well as slaves for the construction of temples.[12] Among the Maya slavery was inherited, unless a ransom was paid.[13] Most victims of human sacrifice were prisoners of war or slaves.[14] Among the Aztecs, white collar crime such as embezzlement, breach of trust, and theft could be penalized with enslavement.[15] The Nahuas traded child slaves.[16]

The Kalinago of Dominica were known to keep slaves.[17]

South America

See also: Mit'a.

In the Inca Empire, workers were subject to a Mit'a in lieu of taxes which they paid by working for the government, a form of corvée labor. Each ayllu, or extended family, would decide which family member to send to do the work. It is debated whether this system of forced labor counts as slavery.

The Arawak, Caribs, Waraos and Akawaio of the Dutch Guiana captured people from other tribes. Most males were executed, but some were enslaved or sold repeatedly, often across great distances.[18]

The Tehuelche of Patagonia, and the Tupinambá of Brazil, were known to keep slaves.[19]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Christina Snyder . Christina Snyder . Noel Lenski . Catherine M. Cameron . What Is a Slave Society? The Practice of Slavery in Global Perspective . April 2018 . . 9781316534908 . 178 . 9 February 2024 . en . 10.1017/9781316534908.007 . 6 - Native American Slavery in Global Context . In the pre-Columbian era, Native Americans developed transcontinental trade networks, and slaves were among the commodities.
  2. Ames, Kenneth M.; Maschner, Herbert D. G. (1999). Peoples of the northwest coast: their archaeology and prehistory. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 196.
  3. Green, Jonathan S. (1915). Journal of a tour on the north west coast of America in the year 1829, containing a description of a part of Oregon, California and the north west coast and the numbers, manners and customs of the native tribes. New York city: Reprinted for C. F. Heartman, p. 45.
  4. Ames, Kenneth M. (2001). "Slaves, Chiefs and Labour on the Northern Northwest Coast". World Archaeology 33 (1): 1–17., p. 3.
  5. Web site: UH - Digital History . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070715143811/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/black_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=2 . 15 July 2007 . digitalhistory.uh.edu.
  6. Web site: 30 November 1998 . Warfare . https://web.archive.org/web/20080923232313/http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/haida/havwa01e.html . 23 September 2008 . 14 October 2015 . civilization.ca . . Gatineau.
  7. Book: BROWN . ROBERT . THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT . 1896 . CLEMENT WILSON . London . 27 May 2023 . VIII. MUSIC—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS—SLAVES [...] . Maquina had nearly fifty, male and female, in his house, a number constituting about one half of its inhabitants, comprehending those obtained by war and purchase; whereas none of the other chiefs had more than twelve.
  8. Web site: Helle . Richard . Slavery . 16 August 2021 . Encyclopædia Britannica.
  9. http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news0307/news0307-7.pdf Sweeney, James L. (2007). "Caribs, Maroons, Jacobins, Brigands, and Sugar Barons: The Last Stand of the Black Caribs on St. Vincent"
  10. Book: Burkholder, Mark A.. Johnson, Lyman L.. 2019. 10th. en. 137. Oxford University Press. thieves, rapists, and poachers, among others, could be sentenced to enslavement for crimes.. Colonial Latin America.
  11. Web site: Maya Social Structure . 7 August 2021 . Tarlton Law Library . University of Texas at Austin . 7 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211107123822/https://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/aztec-and-maya-law/maya-social-structure . dead .
  12. Web site: Maya Society . 4 December 2011 . Library.umaine.edu . 1 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200601202507/https://library.umaine.edu/hudson/palmer/Maya/society.asp . dead .
  13. Book: Burkholder, Mark A.. Johnson, Lyman L.. 1. America, Iberia, and Africa Before the Conquest. 2019. 10th. en. 10. Oxford University Press. the Maya […] once enslaved, the status could become hereditary unless the slave were ransomed. Colonial Latin America.
  14. Web site: Aztec . 16 August 2021 . Encyclopædia Britannica.
  15. Velázquez Hernández, Martha Alicia. 2020. 163. Revista ExLege. Universidad de La Salle Bajío. Con la esclavitud se castigaban el abuso de confianza, la malversación de fondos, el robo, dependiento de la gravedad.. Historia del derecho prehispánico. El derecho en el pueblo azteca. 5. 7 February 2024.
  16. Thomas Ward . Expanding Ethnicity in Sixteenth-Century Anahuac: Ideologies of Ethnicity and Gender in the Nation-Building Process . MLN (Modern Language Notes) . March 2001 . 116 . 2 . 6 February 2024 . . 0026-7910 . lone. Lockhart (The Nahuas 99-100) confirms the existence of child slaves who had "come from a distance".
  17. Web site: Helle . Richard . Slavery . 16 August 2021 . Encyclopædia Britannica.
  18. Book: Marjoleine Kars. 2 - Amerindians on the Wild Coast. 2020. en. New York. 37. The New Press. dominated by Arawaks […] Caribs […] Waraos […] Akawaio […] Native men added regularly to the population of their villages by capturing people […] Women were forced to marry into the village to perform domestic and sexual duties […] Male prisoners of war were more likely to be killed […] Some captives became servants or slaves or they found themselves repeatedly traded, often across great distances. Blood on the River.
  19. Web site: Helle . Richard . Slavery . 16 August 2021 . Encyclopædia Britannica.

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