Slavery In Latin America

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Much of early Latin America was built on the backs of slaves and indigenous people. From the “Republica de Indios” to the slave societies; the Spanish and Portuguese knew how to abuse and exploit the non-Iberians of Latin America. The roles of the indigenous and slaves in Latin America society was different. They were both treated differently. With natives being controlled by the encomienda and later the repartimiento system, and Africans being controlled by slavery. Both groups of people were expected to work tirelessly and with little to no pay. In general, Natives were expected, by the crown, to be treated better than slaves, but this was not always the case. The Spanish Crown attempted to control the natives through the encomienda and later repartimiento. The encomienda was mostly a reward …show more content…
The Native Americans were generally allowed to have their own separate government that was functional and similar to that of the Spanish colonies. This may be because of how hard it was to control the indigenous on a direct level. The Native American government had the power to create an identity and collect tribute from its people. This kind of power is unimaginable for slaves and their societies. But, then what about the use of repartimiento instead of slavery. Since the Spanish saw social hierarchy as natural, they may have viewed the Africans as less than Native Americans and less than the Spanish. In “The Indians of Tejupan Want to Raise Silk On Their Own”, it’s shown that the natives are still exploited. In the document, after five years of exploitation the Indians of Tejupan ask for the right to continue raising silk, but for their own profit. Overall, free and important Native Americans had the power to live their lives similarly to that of a regular Spanish. Their ability to marry and worship was for the most part the same as that of a