In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He also played a central role in the European adoption of Indian or Native American slavery.
When we think of slavery in early America, we often think of the practice of African and African-American chattel slavery. However, that system of slavery wasn’t the only system of slavery that existed in North America. Systems of Indian slavery existed too. In fact, Indians remained enslaved long after the 13th Amendment abolished African-American slavery in 1865.
In this episode, Andrés Reséndez, a professor of history at the University of California, Davis and author of The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in Americas, leads us on an investigation of this “other” form of American slavery.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.
Episode Summary
Andrés Reséndez, a professor of history at the University of California, Davis and author of The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in Americas, leads us on an investigation of this “other” form of American slavery.
During our investigation, Andrés reveals how and when the practice of Indian slavery started; Details about Indian slavery and the role It played in the Mexican Silver Rush and the Pubelo Revolt of 1680; And what happened when Indian slavery became a United States institution after the Mexican-American War in 1848.
What You’ll Discover
- The origins of Indian slavery
- How Europeans came to practice Indian slavery
- Relationship between Indian slavery and African slavery
- Christopher Columbus and the European adoption of Indian slavery
- Native American slaves in Spain
- Differences between practices of Indian slavery in Europe and Indian slavery in North America
- Spain’s reliance on Indian rather than African slavery
- The role enslaved Indian laborers played in the Spanish Silver Rush in Mexico
- The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico
- The Spanish mission system and Indian slavery
- The Pueblo Revolt of 1680
- Indian slavery as a United States problem and institution
- How Indian slavery ended
- How Andrés researched Indian slavery
Links to People, Places, and Publications
- Andrés Reséndez
- Andrés UCDavis webpage
- The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in Americas
- A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
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Complementary Episodes
- Episode 008: Greg O’Malley, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America
- Episode 064: Brett Rushforth, Native American Slavery in New France
- Episode 067: John Ryan Fischer, An Environmental History of Early California & Hawaii
- Episode 082: Alejandra Dubcovsky, Information and Communication in the Early American South
- Episode 115: Andrew Torget, The Early American History of Texas
Time Warp Question
In your opinion, what might have happened if Columbus had not negotiated the Capitulations of Santa Fe in 1492? Would Indian slavery have developed if Columbus had not been economically motivated to begin the practice?
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