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The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
by Andrés Reséndez
Much of early colonial American history follows a fairly standard narrative—the country was established on land stolen from Native Americans and founded with the forced labor/lives stolen from enslaved Africans/African Americans. In [b:The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America|25897734|The Other Slavery The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America|Andrés Reséndez|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447139137l/25897734._SY75_.jpg|45780692], Andrés Reséndez seeks to better understand the root concept of slavery.
Different from the U.S. chattel slavery of African Americans, “the other slavery” is a term that describes the systems of control used to ensnare Native Americans, as well as the range of coercion used to induce forced captivity. Reséndez’s timeline of events shows how early European “discoverers” were actually burgeoning slavers starting with the first arrival—Christopher Columbus. While African slavery consisted largely of adult males, the Native American slave trade consisted predominantly of women and children.
“Native Americans had enslaved each other for millennia, but with the arrival of Europeans, practices of captivity originally embedded in specific cultural contexts became commodified, expanded in unexpected ways, and came to resemble the kinds of human trafficking that are recognizable to us today.” (3)
One of the crude bullet point notes of history that I can recall from my primary school social studies courses, was that Native Americans did not make for “good slaves,” and that is why Europeans partook in the African slave trade. The major underlying reason for this, that me and my young classmates were given, was that much of the eradication of Native Americans was attributed to Old World diseases that these New World populations lacked immunity to. As we can see in the present with COVID-19, it's the communities that lack resources who are most likely to succumb to the disease and perish at alarming numbers.
Reséndez argues that the nexus of forced labor, overwork, famine, and other forms of coercion imposed by Europeans are ultimately what killed more Native Americans, as these factors set the stage for plague to spread rampant like wildfire. As we see today, the more inhumane and impoverished the living conditions of a population, the more likely they are to be infected and die from a new infectious disease. There are certainly correlations between malnourishment and the body succumbing to the worst symptoms of a given infection. The echo of history is as alarming as it is chilling.
Also, interestingly, are how false accusations used to coerce Native Americans into servitude grew to remain unfortunate stereotypes of groups to this day. For instance, while there were SOME groups that would practice cannibalism in the Caribbean, to justify a Christian cause for civilizing enslavement, there were Spanish settlers who would falsely accuse peaceful Native groups as being man-eating, so that they could have cause to enslave them.
Furthermore, the more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that European slave systems were inherently capitalistic enterprises that commodified the bodies of people considered to be from inferior (non-Christian) racial groups. While not “slavery” outright, the Spanish system of enslavement was nonetheless a nefarious enterprise in that, “From a narrow legal perspective, these Indians would not be slaves, but rather convicts serving out their sentences” (90). These technicalities are what ultimately gave birth to the encomienda system, as well as other forms of debt peonage.
As much of this book focuses on Spanish enforced enslavement, it is not until Chapter 10 that the U.S. enters the stage (by the 1800s). While I was more-so familiar with the treatment of Native Americans in New Mexico and California, I was genuinely surprised by how heavily involved Mormons were with Native American enslavement in Utah. Religious leader Brigham Young even considered it to be a part of the human condition.
Even as the United States legally ended African slavery, it is fairly evident that features of “the other slavery” were adapted, either directly or indirectly, and debt peonage would serve as the basis for Jim Crow era forced labor. “African slavery may have been abolished, but the methods of the other slavery were spreading to the South” (303).
Overall, this is a pretty solid source that is well-researched and well-argued. Whether you are interested in the topics of Native American history, genocide, American slave systems, colonization, etc.—this book is definitely a historical narrative worth reading.
Different from the U.S. chattel slavery of African Americans, “the other slavery” is a term that describes the systems of control used to ensnare Native Americans, as well as the range of coercion used to induce forced captivity. Reséndez’s timeline of events shows how early European “discoverers” were actually burgeoning slavers starting with the first arrival—Christopher Columbus. While African slavery consisted largely of adult males, the Native American slave trade consisted predominantly of women and children.
“Native Americans had enslaved each other for millennia, but with the arrival of Europeans, practices of captivity originally embedded in specific cultural contexts became commodified, expanded in unexpected ways, and came to resemble the kinds of human trafficking that are recognizable to us today.” (3)
One of the crude bullet point notes of history that I can recall from my primary school social studies courses, was that Native Americans did not make for “good slaves,” and that is why Europeans partook in the African slave trade. The major underlying reason for this, that me and my young classmates were given, was that much of the eradication of Native Americans was attributed to Old World diseases that these New World populations lacked immunity to. As we can see in the present with COVID-19, it's the communities that lack resources who are most likely to succumb to the disease and perish at alarming numbers.
Reséndez argues that the nexus of forced labor, overwork, famine, and other forms of coercion imposed by Europeans are ultimately what killed more Native Americans, as these factors set the stage for plague to spread rampant like wildfire. As we see today, the more inhumane and impoverished the living conditions of a population, the more likely they are to be infected and die from a new infectious disease. There are certainly correlations between malnourishment and the body succumbing to the worst symptoms of a given infection. The echo of history is as alarming as it is chilling.
Also, interestingly, are how false accusations used to coerce Native Americans into servitude grew to remain unfortunate stereotypes of groups to this day. For instance, while there were SOME groups that would practice cannibalism in the Caribbean, to justify a Christian cause for civilizing enslavement, there were Spanish settlers who would falsely accuse peaceful Native groups as being man-eating, so that they could have cause to enslave them.
Furthermore, the more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that European slave systems were inherently capitalistic enterprises that commodified the bodies of people considered to be from inferior (non-Christian) racial groups. While not “slavery” outright, the Spanish system of enslavement was nonetheless a nefarious enterprise in that, “From a narrow legal perspective, these Indians would not be slaves, but rather convicts serving out their sentences” (90). These technicalities are what ultimately gave birth to the encomienda system, as well as other forms of debt peonage.
As much of this book focuses on Spanish enforced enslavement, it is not until Chapter 10 that the U.S. enters the stage (by the 1800s). While I was more-so familiar with the treatment of Native Americans in New Mexico and California, I was genuinely surprised by how heavily involved Mormons were with Native American enslavement in Utah. Religious leader Brigham Young even considered it to be a part of the human condition.
Even as the United States legally ended African slavery, it is fairly evident that features of “the other slavery” were adapted, either directly or indirectly, and debt peonage would serve as the basis for Jim Crow era forced labor. “African slavery may have been abolished, but the methods of the other slavery were spreading to the South” (303).
Overall, this is a pretty solid source that is well-researched and well-argued. Whether you are interested in the topics of Native American history, genocide, American slave systems, colonization, etc.—this book is definitely a historical narrative worth reading.