Islam and The Carribean

 

European powers, particularly the Spanish, enslaved Native Caribbean people during colonization through forced labor systems like the "encomienda" and by acquiring them through trade and raids, often exporting them to other colonies. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Initial Enslavement:

  The Spanish, led by Christopher Columbus, initiated the enslavement of the indigenous populations in the Caribbean, with Columbus sending enslaved indigenous people to Europe as commodities. 
• "Encomienda" System:

  The Spanish implemented the "encomienda" system, which granted Spanish settlers the right to demand labor and tribute from indigenous populations, effectively enslaving them. 
• Trade and Raids:

  Europeans also acquired enslaved Native Caribbean people through trade with other indigenous groups or by raiding and capturing them directly. 
• Export to Other Colonies:

  Enslaved Native Caribbean people were often exported to other European colonies, including those in the mainland of the Americas and the "sugar islands" of the Caribbean. 
• Demographic Collapse:

  The enslavement, coupled with diseases introduced by Europeans, led to a devastating demographic collapse of the indigenous populations in the Caribbean. 
• Rise of African Slavery:

  As the indigenous populations declined, European powers increasingly relied on enslaved Africans to work the plantations, marking a shift in the system of slavery in the Americas. 
• Continued Enslavement:

  While the enslavement of Native Caribbean people declined as African slavery became more prominent, it continued in some areas well into the 19th century. 
• Examples of Enslavement:

  • Guianas: The Guianas became an important source of indigenous slave labor for English, French, and Dutch colonies in the West Indies. 
  • New England: English colonists in New England frequently exported Native slaves to other mainland possessions as well as the "sugar islands" of the Caribbean. 
  • British Colonies: Caribbean and South American native slaves were sold in the British colonies on the continent, and also taken as booty in raids by the British on the Spanish. 

  (AI Generated)

European Enslavement of Indigenous People in the Americas

Rebecca Anne Goetz

The immensity and longevity of the European trade in enslaved Indigenous people shaped colonialism in the Americas. Europeans enslaved between two and five million Indigenous people in the Americas between 1492 and 1900. About 650,000 Indigenous people were enslaved in the greater Caribbean before 1542 alone. Indigenous enslavement’s chameleon-like qualities contributed to its ubiquity and its longevity. Europeans developed legally sanctioned trades by capturing, enslaving, and selling Indigenous people. Sometimes Europeans slaved based on their understandings of just wars and of slavery as a punishment for crime. At other times Europeans acquired enslaved people through trade and diplomacy with Indigenous polities. On the edges of empire, far from the reaches of imperial authority, raiding and slaving remained common well into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The diversity of enslavement practices meant that European slaving practices could be adapted to different geographies, different circumstances, and different legal environments. Even when slaving was technically illegal, Europeans used a variety of means to extract forced labor from Indigenous people. In the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, these took the form of 

the encomienda or repartimiento, both forms of labor tribute and obligation that differed very little from slavery in the daily lives of Indigenous people. In other places Europeans coopted Indigenous forms of labor obligation, such as naboría in the Caribbean, mita in Peru, or yanaconazgo in the lowland Andes. In other places, debt peonage or permanent forms of indentured servitude persisted. European slaving had profound impacts on Indigenous societies. Many Indigenous communities experienced severe political and social disruptions. Some Indigenous communities relied on their own traditions to resist slaving, using diplomacy creatively to resist European encroachment. Others formed multiethnic, coalescent communities to protect themselves. Some Indigenous people also used armed resistance against European slaving and colonialism. A note on terminology: older work will often use the term “Indian slavery” or refer to Indigenous people generically as “Indian.” This use is increasingly out of favor and many Indigenous people consider the term inaccurate or even offensive. Accordingly, more recent scholarship will usually use the terms “Indigenous” or “Native,” and when possible use appropriate ethnonyms to refer to particular communities.

General Overviews

While scholarly output on the enslavement of Indigenous people is growing quickly into a vibrant field, most overviews cannot take in all of the Americas, and many are either regionally focused or address research problems in particular places or archives. For short introductions that cover both hemispheres, see Bialuschewski and Fisher 2017, van Deusen 2020, and Goetz 2016. Van Deusen 2023 is a lengthier introduction to some of the research problems and possibilities for the Americas. For North America, see Bossy 2016, Chaplin 2015, and Gallay 2009. Snyder 2014 focuses mostly on the space that becomes the United States South, but also covers the precolonial

period and has an intensive discussion of the current literature. For the Caribbean, see Smyth 2022. For South America, see Whitehead 2011.