Indian slavery in colonial times within the present limits of the United States / by Almon Wheeler Lauber.
Saved in:
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Williamstown, Mass. :
Corner House,
1970.
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| Series: | Studies in history, economics, and public law ;
134. |
| Subjects: |
Table of Contents:
- I. Indian slavery among the Indians, the Spaniards and the French : 1. Enslavement by the Indians themselves : Introductory statement : Indian slavery among the Indians practically universal ; More extensively used among some tribes than others ; No entire tribes held in subjections. Slavery on the great plains and Atlantic slope : Different from that in west ; Not slavery in the true sense in many cases ; "Slavery" confounded with "prisoner" and "adoption" ; Slavery to be interpreted in the broadest sense. Processes of enslavement : For crime ; Indians staked themselves when gambling ; Indians sold children in time of famine ; Barter with other tribes ; Warfare. Coming of Europeans affected slavery : Stirring up tribes against one another. Employment of Indian slaves : Domestic servants ; Mistresses ; Agricultural laborers ; Miners ; Hunters ; Fishermen ; Objects of barter and trade. Treatment of slaves : Depended upon individual owners ; A distinct class in west ; A part of family or tribe in east ; Adoption ; Treatment generally kind ; Instances of cruel treatment ; Precautions to prevent escape ; Women of tribe have power to spare or kill ; Punishment by death ; Distinction between owner and slave not so clear as between the Europeans and his slave ; Privileges and favors. Manumission : Marriage into the tribe ; Birth ; Death of owner ; Adoption ; Peace with tribe to which slave belonged ; Exchange ; Messenger in formal declaration of war
- 2. Enslavement by the Spaniards : Idea of slavery : Practiced by Indians ; Captives of Spanish wars enslaved ; Sanctioned by church and state ; Public opinion ; Enslavement of Indians would Christianize them. Processes of enslavement : War ; Spanish explorers. Employment of slaves : Guides ; Interpreters ; Camp laborers ; Burden bearers ; Cooks ; Mistresses. Treatment : Depended upon individual owners ; Kindness to enslave instead of to kill ; Instances of kindness. Manumission : Act of individual owners ; Law of 1543 to end slavery in Spanish America ; Law not successful. Missions and "presidios" : Life of Indians was practical slavery
- 3. Enslavement by the French : Legality : Never authorized by law in early colonial period ; Home government not interested ; Indirect royal action in eighteenth century ; Authorized by colonial authorities ; Action of company of the Indies, 1720 ; Recognition by Governor-general Hocquart, 1736 ; Action of royal council, 1745. Public opinion : Not concerned with the subject ; Knowledge of slavery vague ; Countenanced slavery as an institution ; No leader like Las Cases to create sentiment against slavery ; Attitude of the missionaries. Processes of enslavement : War : Natchez war ; Minor war : With the Fox Indians ; With the Chickasaw. Urging allies to war and taking captives ; Requiring conquered tribes to go to war and take captives ; Kidnapping. Trade : Indians slaves an object of trade ; Part played by "coureurs de bois" ; Opposition to it not strong ; Attitude of Jesuits. Gifts: made to the explorers ; Birth: throughout history children of slaves generally regarded as slaves ; Employment of slaves : Among the explorers : Guides ; nterpreters. Among the colonists : Interpreters ; Domestic servants ; Mistresses ; Agricultural laborers ; Laborers on fortification ; Menial camp laborers ; Objects of bribe to win friendship of tribes. Recognition as property : Tax law of 1728. Treatment of slaves : Slavery was of mild nature ; Social distinction between slave and owner was less marked than in case of English and Indian slaves ; Instance of "coureurs de bois" ; Religious training ; Relation to ceremonies and sacraments of the Church. Extent of Indian slavery : In Louisiana ; In Natchitoches ; In north Mississippi Valley ; In Detroit. Manumission : Verbal manumission ; Law od 1735 required manumission by notarial deed ; Law of 1721 freed children if slave mothers and free fathers. Causes of end of Indian slavery : Indians not adapted to slavery ; Decrease in number of Indians ; Removal of tribes from neighborhood of whites ; Law of 1693 forbade trade in Indians ; Law of 1736 repeated the order ; General unsatisfactoriness of the institution ; Growth of indenture system ; Growth of negro slavery. II. The institution as practiced by the English : 4. The number of Indian slaves : Exact number in any colony unknown : Statistics rare or lacking altogether. Comparative number in different colonies : Largest number in South : Carolinas possessed most ; Carolinas exported many ; Fewer Indian slaves than negroes ; Number in Georgia very small ; The same true of Virginias. New England possessed many : Massachusetts enslaved captives taken in war : The Pequot War ; King Philip's War ; Slaves in various towns. Rhode Island possessed some ; Connecticut and New Haven had but few ; New Hampshire had very few. The middle group of colonies had a smaller number than New England : New York had more than other colonies : None taken in war ; Some imported from the Carolinas and the Spanish Islands. Pennsylvania had a few : Some imported. New Jersey had very few ; Maryland probably possessed the smallest number
- 5. Processes of enslavement: warfare : Indian wars generally confined to South : Wars in Virginia : Wars with Opechancanough ; Bacon's rebellion. Wars in Carolina : War with the Kussoe ; Expeditions against Spanish Indians after 1701 : In 1702 ; In 1704 ; In 1708 ; In 1727. Tuscarora war : Barnwell's expedition ; Moore's expedition. Wars in New England : Pequot war : The Mistick fight ; The swamp fight ; Captives retained in colonies ; Captives exported. King Philip's war : Captives exported : By Massachusetts. Captives retained in colonies ; Wives and children of captives enslaved ; Children of Indians who surrendered enslaved for a short period ; Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut transported no captives ; Rhode Island retained captives in colony : Captives were involuntary indentured servants rather than slaves. Connecticut enslaved captives. Colonial action regarding enslavement of Indians : Virginia : Action of 1668 ; Action during and after Bacon's rebellion. Maryland : Intention in 1652. North Carolina : Action during Tuscarora war. South Carolina : Action during war with the Kussoe ; Action during war with the Stono ; Action during wars of early eighteenth century : Assembly provided committee to dispose of captives ; Act of 1703 gave anyone a right to purchase slaves ; Acts of 1707 and 1708 gave commanding officers of expeditions the right to purchase slaves ; Act of 1715 provided that public receiver should dispose of captives. Action during war with the Cherokee ; New England : Prior to King Philip's war : Disposal of captives by general court: Massachusetts ; Disposal of captives by council of war: Plymouth ; Act of united colonies of New England : Articles of Confederation, 1643 ; Action in 1645. During King Philip's war : Captives sold outright to obtain money for treasury ; Captives sold to pay debts to individuals ; Captives granted directly to captors ; Military commanders authorized to sell captives ; Attitude toward praying Indians ; Colonial governments realized danger of retaining enslaved captives in colonies : Massachusetts act of 1676 ; Massachusetts act of 1677 ; Plymouth act of 1678.
- Government action in capture and sale of Indians not always above suspicion : Plymouth act of 1646 ; Seizure and sale of Dartmouth Indians ; Event at Cocheco. Disposal of Indians after the war : Massachusetts ; Connecticut ; Rhode Island
- 6. Processes of enslavement: kidnapping : Action of Cabot, Frobisher, Weymouth, Harlow, Hunt ; Evidence of kidnapping in southern colonies meagre : Event of 1685 at Cape Fear, North Carolina. Action of Laughton, 1676 ; Kidnapping in Pennsylvania ; Kidnapping Indians in New York: Spanish Indians ; Kidnapped Spanish Indians in other colonies ; Legislative action against kidnapping : Nature of legislation ; Purpose of legislation ; Acts of : Virginia, 1657 ; Maryland, 1672, 1692, 1705 ; Massachusetts, 1641 ; New Jersey, 1675 ; New Hampshire, 1679
- 7. Processes of enslavement: trade : Purchase of Indians from tribes closely connected with fur trade : Work with the "coureurs de bois" ; Captives obtained by South Carolina traders from the Westo, Savannah and other tribes ; French warn Indians against purpose of English ; Action of English west of Mississippi river ; Action of English and French among Chickasaw and Choctaw ; Two-fold policy of proprietors of Carolina : Sanctioned enslavement of Indians for their own benefit ; Opposed enslavement of Indians by colonial officials : Directions to grand council ; Appointment of commission to prevent trade in Indians ; Directions to governors ; Inquiries from council and individuals ; Declare traders' reasons for traffic in Indians unsound ; Matter of traffic in Indians given to parliament. Attitude of governor John Archdale ; Action of governor James Moore ; South Carolina assembly deals with trade in Indians, 1707 : Appointed board of commissioners : Duties of board ; Oath of members. Directions to traders ; Purpose of assembly ; Result of action of assembly ; Attempts by board to check traffic in Indians ; Memorial of governor, 1720 ; Failure of authorities to enforce decrees. Trade in Indians in Virginia : Traffic begun early ; Attitude of assembly ; Number of slaves obtained by trade never so extensive as in Carolina. Trade in Indians in New England : No direct traffic in slaves with tribes ; Obtained from other colonies. Colonial legislation forbidding traffic in Indian slaves : Massachusetts ; New Haven ; Connecticut ; Rhode Island ; New Hampshire ; New York ; Pennsylvania
- 8. Other processes of enslavement : Abuse of indenture or apprenticeship : Indians indentured to whites by their tribe ; Indians sold to whites by their families ; Indians offered as security for loans ; Indians sell themselves to whites for protection ; Whites enslave such Indians by refusing to give them up : Instance in North Carolina, 1660 ; Cause of Tuscarora war ; Virginia legislation shows custom followed there ; Massachusetts legislation aiming to prevent such action ; Rhode Island legislation to prevent abuse of apprenticeship ; Abuses in New York ; Decree of governor Clinton to free Indians wrongly enslaved ; Custom still in existence at late date, 1755. Punishment for violation of law and order : Enslavement as punishment general throughout colonies ; Enslavement decreed as punishment two ways : By law specifying enslavement as punishment for certain crimes ; By a court decreeing enslavement as punishment for crimes committed. Carolina court decrees illustrating sentences for crimes committed ; Virginia legislation illustrating specified punishment for specified crimes ; Massachusetts legislation ; Massachusetts court decrees ; Plymouth court decrees ; Rhode Island legislation ; Rhode Island court decisions ; Connecticut legislation ; Connecticut court action ; Action of the united colonies. Birth : In law children of slave mothers generally considered slaves. Colonial laws imposing status of slavery on children of slave mothers : South Carolina ; Virginia ; Maryland act of 1663 an exception ; Maryland act of 1692 following general custom in other colonies ;
- New York ; Colonies that did not pass laws regarding the matter followed general custom : Massachusetts ; Connecticut. Cases in colonial courts recognizing status of slavery by birth
- 9. Property relations : Indians in servitude at first held in status servitude ; Status servitude followed by status slavery ; Status servitude and status slavery existing together ; Indian slavery first recognized in customary law : Incidents of the change. Indian slavery recognized in statute law : Instances of South Carolina ; Colonial acts from the standpoint of English law : Had no legal sanction ; Based on law of nations ; England indifferent to such acts ; Acts therefore legal because not declared illegal. Incidents of status servitude continued into status slavery : Conception of property right : Indian slaves bought and sold ; Newspaper advertisements of Indian slaves for sale ; Indian slaves disposed of by will ; Indian slaves in inventories ; Tendency of Indian slaves to run away ; Newspaper advertisements for runaway Indian slaves ; Fugitive slave laws : Persons forbidden to aid runaways ; Punishment for rendering such aids ; Inducements to free Indians to return runaways. Intercolonial agreements concerning return of runaways : Articles of federation of the united colonies of New England ; Treaty of united colonies of New England and New Netherland ; Incident of New York and Pennsylvania ; Incident of North Carolina and Virginia. Massachusetts rewards master for Indian slave taken from him ; Courts settle disputes regarding ownership of Indian slaves ; Taxation of Indian slaves : South Carolina acts ; North Carolina acts ; Virginia acts ; Massachusetts acts ; New York acts ; Acts of the town of Rye, New York. Import duties on Indians slaves : Protective duties : South Carolina acts ; Virginia acts ; Rhode Island act ; New Hampshire act ; Pennsylvania act ; New Jersey acts. Duties for revenue : New York acts. Export duties on Indian slaves : South Carolina act
- 10. Methods of employment : Uses of Indian slaves similar throughout colonies : Hunters ; Fishermen ; Guides ; Domestic servants ; Agricultural laborers ; Craftsmen ; Rented like other chattels ; Laborers in camp and field ; Soldiers
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- 11. Treatment : Treatment the same as that accorded negroes ; Harsh treatment not general ; Clothing : Newspaper evidence. Marriage of whites with Indian slaves : Forbidden by the following colonies : North Carolina, 1715 ; Maryland, 1692 ; Massachusetts, 1692. Regulation of Indian slaves : Each colony settled this for itself ; Indian slaves included by implication in all colonial acts relating to slaves, if not specified. Right to give evidence in court : Could not testify in trial of a white person : South Carolina ; North Carolina ; Virginia ; Maryland ; New York. Protection of slaves' and owners' rights in court : The right to life : New Hampshire act of 1708. Trial of slaves similar to that of freemen ; Chance of slave obtaining his rights in court ; Virginia, 1692, provided special courts for trial of slaves ; Massachusetts provision of 1647 ; New Jersey act of 1713 ; New York act of 1712 ; Tendency of slave owners to conceal crimes committed by slaves ; Remuneration of master if slave was executed : Maryland act of 1717. Restrictions ; Punishments : Death ; Branding ; Whipping ; Mutilation. Religious life : Provisions of home government regarding religious instructions of slaves in general ; Indifference of slave owners ; Attitude of missionaries of the Society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts ; Reports of the missionaries to the Society ; Attitude to the Society ; Effect upon the colonists ; Opinions of English authorities regarding idea that baptism of slaves confers freedom upon them. Manumission : Action of individual owners ; Purchase of freedom by slaves ; Proof of freedom in court ; Government action : Virginia ; North Carolina ; Massachusetts ; Plymouth. Regulations regarding life of manumitted slaves
- 12. The decline of Indian slavery : Small number of Indians in English territory ; Decrease in number of Indians : Decreased birth rate ; Susceptibility to diseases of whites ; Intestine wars. Intermingling of Indian and negro slaves ; Physical and mental unfitness of Indians for slave labor ; Indian slave labor not satisfactory : Indian slaves given to running away ; Indian slaves concerned in conspiracies and uprisings ; Colonial legislation declaring Indian slaves undesirable. Indians as hired servants ; Indians as indentured servants ; White indentured servants ; Negro slavery : Comparative values of Indian and negro slaves. Opposition to Indian slavery and contrasted opinion ; Legislation : Virginia ; South Carolina ; Rhode Island ; New York.