Explain how Europeans drafted and pressed Africans and native Americans into forced labor.

Answer 1

The Europeans, beginning with the Portuguese and then the Spanish in the early 16th century, set up a system of forced labor for Native Americans called the encomienda system. In this system, Native Americans were forced to perform manual labor on large plantations known as haciendas- these existed throughout the Spanish Empire in Central and South America. Conditions were harsh, beatings were common, and life was very difficult for Native Americans during the colonial era.

Within a few decades, the vast majority of Native Americans- some historians estimate over 95%- were wiped out by exposure to smallpox. This led the Spanish and Portuguese (and later the British, Dutch, and others) to turn to Africans for slave labor instead in what became known as the Middle Passage. This horrific system would endure well into the 19th century, and led to the forced enslavement of untold millions of African peoples in the New World.

Side note: Some reformers did protest treatment of Native Americans in the New World, most notably the Spanish bishop and Dominican friar Bartolome de las Casas. He famously argued in favor of an early version of human rights theory against Supulveda at the famous Valladolid Debate back in Spain on the treatment of Native Americans. De las Casas did initially write in favor of enslaving the Africans instead, but later turned away from that view once he saw the brutal treatment of African slaves.