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To: livius
Spain (under Ferdinand and Isabella) forbade the enslavement of Indians in the New World very early on, probably after various educated Indians were brought back to Spain by the religious orders that had educated them and revealed themselves to be the equal of any Spaniard.
Upon his return from his first voyage, Columbus sold the Spanish crown on colonization based on the native population which he portrayed as a ready slave labor force. The reason African slaves were imported by the Spanish is that disease knocked off so many of the natives so quickly. "Indians" were enslaved and forced to work in mines in Peru.
7 posted on 02/01/2006 9:17:27 AM PST by SunkenCiv (In the long run, there is only the short run.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Indians were enslaved in Peru, but that was because Peru and Chile, IIRC, were basically private ventures, and were notable for their cruelty. Shortly after Columbus' discover, the colonization funded by the Spanish crown (such as the Caribbean and Mexico) was not permitted to enslave the Indians. There were even some priests in Mexico who were punished by the Inquisition for having enslaved Indians.


8 posted on 02/01/2006 9:45:49 AM PST by livius
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