Captives of Conquest

Slavery in the Early Modern Spanish Caribbean

Erin Woodruff Stone

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780812253108, 9780812253108
• eBook ISBN: 9780812299588
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: History

One of the first books to examine the earliest indigenous slave trade in the Spanish Caribbean Captives of Conquest is one of the first books to examine the earliest indigenous slave trade in the Spanish Caribbean. Erin Woodruff Stone shows that the indigenous population of the region did not simply collapse from disease or warfare. Rather, upwards of 250, 000 people were removed through slavery, a lucrative business sustained over centuries that formed the foundation of economic, legal, and religious policies in the Spanish colonies. The enslavement of and trade in indigenous peoples was central to the processes of conquest, as the search for new sources of Indian slaves propelled much of the early Spanish exploration into Central and South America.Once captured, some indigenous slaves were shipped to various islands, or as far away as Spain, to be sold for immediate profit. Others became military auxiliaries, guides, miners, pearl divers, servants, or, in the case of women, unwilling sexual partners. In all these roles indigenous slaves helped mold the greater Spanish Caribbean.Even as the number of African slaves grew in the Americas, enslaved Indians did not disappear. On the contrary, African and Indian slaves worked side by side, the methods and practices of both types of slavery influencing one another throughout the centuries. Together the two forms of slavery helped create the greater Spanish Caribbean, a space and economy founded upon the bondage and coerced labor of both indigenous and African peoples.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction. From a “Structure of Conjuncture” to a “Shatter Zone”
• Chapter 1. Migration, Exchange, and Conquest: Slavery in the Pre-Contact Atlantic
• Chapter 2. Two Worlds Collide: The Rise of the Indian Slave Trade
• Chapter 3. The Ties That Bind: Religious Orders and Indian Caciques on Española, 1500–1534
• Chapter 4. The Search for Slaves Inspires New World Exploration
• Chapter 5. Granjerías de Indios: The Business of Indigenous Slavery
• Chapter 6. Crossroads of Slavery: The African Slave Trade Meets the Indian Slave Trade
• Conclusion. The Slow Decline of the Indian Slave Trade
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Acknowledgments