Enslavement history is one of the crucial and most studied problems of the United States. However, the issue of enslavement of indigenous people is less discussed; many citizens do not equate the conditions of enslaved Indians with enslaved Africans. Andres Resendez expands on the topic in the book The Other Slavery, revealing the situation in the course of American history from the time of Columbus to the offer of citizenship in the 20th century. The work shows a new perspective on the complex topic of Indian enslavement, which was overlooked before.
The history of the process comes from the first settlers and explorers of America. Since Columbus’s arrival, the enslavement problem featured several points that have presented a danger for native inhabitants. These include compulsory labor, diseases, and overwork (Rezendes, 21). All three characterize the concept of the nature of Indian slavery, which was unofficial and hidden from the legal and historical perspectives. It can be demonstrated from the description of the results of the Chichimec Wars after which, Rezendes states, Indians “could not be enslaved in perpetuity, but only “held in deposit” from 6 to 20 years” (Rezendes, 83-84). Such an approach allowed colonists to capture mine workers without consequences and without concern about their health conditions.
The latter has become an issue that was not considered severe and worsened the number of slavery cases. Europeans, arriving in the new land, brought their illnesses with them; meanwhile, native people have not been immune to diseases such as smallpox, typhus, and influenza (Rezendes, 45). The high mortality rate did not stop enslavement. On the contrary, even more people were captured to replace the deceased individuals. Therefore, the nature of the other slavery made the conditions unbearably hard for the Indians. At the same time, they were deprived of the right to be freed because, technically, they were never enslaved.
Coercion of Native Americans to work as miners was one of the critical aspects of the period and the concept of understanding the situation in general. The phenomenon of Mexico’s silver boom, beginning in the 1520s, lasted longer than the gold rush in California up to the 17th century (Rezendes, 92). The amount of silver mined during the time required many workers and supporting personnel to keep 400 miles of mines active (Rezendes, 96). There was a need for diggers of tunnels, carriers of the ore, people to mix it with lead and mercury, and those who recovered the silver. As a result, owners constantly complained about the lack of laborers. Hence, swiftly developing business encouraged wealthy owners to ask permission of the Queen to attract more workers through free labor of Indians, regardless of those already working in mines for a salary. Officially it was forbidden, butaaa the system has become twisted since mine owners used Indians as salaried and free workers. The free laborers presented an opportunity for masters to hide the most prosperous mines.
Parral and New Mexico territories were the lands of opportunities for the colonists to expand their business by obtaining more unpaid Native Americans for their silver economy. The mining industries of Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela, the Andean area, and Brazil benefited significantly from enslaved Indian labor from New Mexico. Spanish authorities established a massive system of forced workers known as the mita, which mandated that more than two hundred Indian groups send one-seventh of their adult populations to partly-forced work to meet the labor needs of this “mountain of silver” (Rezendes, 110-112). This state-run system was instituted in 1573, functioning for 250 years. Even so, they all relied on labor arrangements that ranged from explicitly coercive institutions and practices like encomienda, repartimiento, debt peonage, and the mita to salaried employment. The extent of official involvement and the scope of these operations varied across lands. Thus, the other enslavement was fueled by mine business and the personal greed of its owners throughout the continent.
Nevertheless, some periods and situations contributed to the freeing of Native Americans. Rezendes considers the Spanish antislavery crusade under the government of Phillip IV, his wife Queen Mariana, and their son King Charles one of the most notable events (117). The concept of the campaign was not ideal, and it did not achieve the complete abolishing of slavery in the Americas. However, it freed approximately six thousand Indians from Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, and other regions. Phillip started the crusade at the end of his reign, even though he was the one who began the war between Spaniards and enslaved people. Consequently, the war worsened the life condition of both participants, and after that, the king decided to free the Indians.
His ideas were later supported by Queen Mariana, who was the first to grant the decree of emancipation, which changed the field of slavery in America. The culmination began with Charles, who declared, “No Indians can be held as slaves; instead, they will be treated as my vassals who have contributed so much to the greatness of my dominions” (Rezendes, 124). Many Indians found themselves unexpectedly freed; however, they did not know what to do with the freedom. The results of such campaigns varied across regions: in some parts awoke strict opposition and hostility or marked the formation of new markets and slavers. Hence, it pushed the trade further into the power of Native traffickers because the Spanish Crown had no control over them.
Many people often confuse the enslavement of African and Native American people. Rezendes, in his work, clears the problem of comparison based on the various factors. Even though there were many aspects of similarities between them, such as oppression of rights throughout history or the conditions of shipping enslaved people away from their homeland, there were points that granted utterly different attitudes to the enslaved Indians. The categories of people were different; if it was common to enslave African men, among Indians, primarily women and even children were seen on the market. Additionally, illegal grounds for Indian enslavement, compared to African, made it nearly impossible to abolish, particularly in the United States (Rezendes, 261). With the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, involuntary servitude and slavery were outlawed, but mainly it concerned African people. Thus, Native Americans’ slavery, on the other hand, persisted up to 1924, when Congress granted federal citizenship to Indigenous peoples.
Therefore, the book by Rezendes opens a new look at the problem of enslavement of Indians across the Americas. It helps to shape a clear understanding of the situation and the historical context of the events. For me, the book revealed the significant points of Indian rebellions and the economic structure that surrounded them, which broadened my understanding of the whole picture, which I had not seen before. Hence, Rezendes provides a new perspective on the history of the enslavement of Native Americans, often considered irrelevant or non-existing.
Work Cited
Rezendes, Andres. The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.