Slavery in colonial Spanish America

Common card · No. 409963

Slavery in the Spanish American viceroyalties included the enslavement, forced labor and peonage of indigenous peoples, Africans, and Asians from the late 15th to late 19th century, and its aftereffects in the 20th and 21st centuries. The economic and social institution of slavery existed throughout the Spanish Empire, including Spain itself. Initially, indigenous people were subjected to the encomienda system until the 1543 New Laws that prohibited it. This was replaced with the repartimiento system. Africans were also transported to the Americas for their labor under the race-based system of chattel slavery. Later, Southeast Asian people were brought to the Americas under forms of indenture and peonage to provide cheap labor to replace enslaved Africans. Indigenous societies in the Americas practiced slavery and other forms of coerced labor long before Europeans arrived. War captives, debtors, and raid victims were held in bondage in many regions. During the Spanish conquest, soldiers...

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