American Yawp Chapter 3

Wars and Native American Enslavement

  • Common Means: Wars were the primary method by which colonists acquired Native American slaves.

  • Legal Thought: 17th-century European legal thinking viewed enslaving prisoners of war as legal and more merciful than execution.

Key Events

  • Pequot War (1636-1637):

    • Massachusetts Bay colonists sold hundreds of Native Americans into slavery in the West Indies.

  • Dutch Colonization:

    • During Governor Kieft’s War (1641-1645) and the two Esopus Wars (1659-1663), Dutch colonists enslaved Algonquian Indians.

    • Captives were sent to Bermuda and Curaçao.

  • King Philip’s War (1675-1676):

    • Resulted in hundreds of Indian captives being enslaved.

    • Efforts to send Indian slaves to Barbados were rejected due to fears of rebellion.

Enslavement Figures

  • Estimates:

    • Between 24,000 and 51,000 Native Americans were enslaved in the southern colonies from 1670 to 1715.

    • Many enslaved individuals were exported from Charles Town, South Carolina to other areas like Barbados and Jamaica.

Colonial Attitudes

  • Eighteenth Century:

    • Colonial governments began to discourage the practice, though it did not cease as slavery remained legal.

    • Violence from the Indian slave trade was a threat to colonists seeking land in frontier areas.

Conditions of Enslaved Native Americans

  • Health and Mortality:

    • Many enslaved individuals died from disease, starvation, or murder.

  • Plantation Labor Needs:

    • The demand for reliable labor led to the growth of the transatlantic slave trade.

    • Millions of Africans were transported across the ocean via the Middle Passage, facing horrific conditions.

  • Eyewitness Accounts:

    • Olaudah Equiano detailed the terrors of the voyage, including crew's brutality and poor living conditions.