Native American Slavery, Essay Example

Native American Slavery is a common historical concept that aroused the political proceedings of Americans in the 16^th century. Notably, German and United States researchers suggest that European colonialism led to the loss of more than half the population of the Native Americans. The researches proved that the extinction of the indigenous community in the North American was contributed by the brutality of colonialism towards the Native Americans especially through the implication of slavery. Before European colonialist arrived in North American in the 16^th century, the indigenous community dominated the region. These indigenous communities lived in stratified farming communities like the Natchez and others who relied on hunting and gathering like the Apache. At that period, more than 50 language groups that incorporated around 300 to 500 languages inhabited North America (Bedoya et al. 4). Therefore, this paper is going to majorly consider how colonization had hurt the first nation people, putting much emphasis on the impact that colonial slavery had on the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation.

Politically, the form of organization applied by most of the Native American communities was a consensus method. The system entailed leaders rising to respond to a crisis at a particular time instead of possessing a fixed degree of power. These indigenous groups also included the Northwest Coast Indians and the Southeast Indians who had hierarchical society and clear chiefly class, unlike the other groups. Upon the arrival of the Europeans colonialist like France, England, and Spain, interrupted the harmonious residence of the Native Americans and led to their dire extinction (Laverty 52). The European colonialist invaded North America with much greed engaging the indigenous community into warfare and also spreading to them malicious sickness that they were recovering from. The indigenous communities were defeated badly, and their lands were taken, as the colonialist subjected them to slavery. This made the indigenous communities the first Americans to face slavery before the African American slavery that was introduced in 1619.

There were major factors that drove most European countries to opt for colonization of other regions. The first factor that contributed to the European colonialism was the inflamed religious difference of Protestantism that brought new emergence of military conflict in Europe preventing free trade in the region (Beyoda et al. 4). The countries needed to find other places where such a revolution was scarce, and free trade could be conducted. The second reason was the recovery of the plague-depleted population as they became resistant to the Black Death leading to the creation of excess labor and displeasing wages. The third reason was the expulsion of the Jews people and the Protestants, which undermined the economy, and also the influx of the American silver and gold devaluing most currencies (Sacks 399). Thus, the European nations set out to colonize North America in the 16^th and 17^th century with each country having its own goal. The goal of France was to generate income. Also, the French also had a religious conversion and territorial expansion goals. Their interest in America was a bit early since in 1534, French seaman Jacques Cartier had already entered the American soil through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Eventually, French claimed dominion over most of the regions of Southeast, American Subarctic people and the Northeast people. However, the Spanish colonialist contested for the regions. The British aim in colonizing North America was majorly to expand their territory, especially on the Atlantic coast from New England to Virginia. Their main trade force in the English economy at that time was wool trade. As a source of foreign exchange, the wool trade softened a lot the inflation that was affecting the country. This inflation pressure was directed to the Native Americans who had been colonized. They enforced the indigenous communities that they had conquered to produce more wool by applying land enclosure system that drove most of the communities out of their land. These communities evicted from their farms, forced to offer cheap labor and to choose between starving and conducting illicit activities.

Spanish colonialism contributed to the slavery suffering of the Esselen tribe who were Native Americans. The Spanish colonialism aimed to extract the wealth of North America since it was enriched with gold and silver (Lea 154). Before Spanish arrival and colonization, the Esselen people resided seasonally on the coastal inland of the Big Sur in Monterey, California. They were the Hokan language family who was indigenous to the Santa Lucia Mountains. The tribe majorly survived on the bountiful seafood that was present during summer and the acorns as well as wildlife during the rest of the year. At the time of Spanish arrival, the population of the Esselen tribe was approximately 500 to 1200 individuals inhabiting the rocky regions of California (Lea 169). Spanish colonials managed to seize the immense quantity of the precious metals after conquering the wealthy Inca and the Aztec empire in 1521 and 1532. They shipped the metals back to their country, and it managed to calm the economic mayhem in the country. The Spanish quest to exert their power led them to start a mission of converting the indigenous community to Roman Catholicism. After the Spaniards had managed to defeat the Indian communities in the Southwest, they began asserting their religious mission of converting the locals to accept Christianity of Catholicism and abandon their traditional practices.

Notably, it was through one of the Christian missionary conducted by Junipero Serra that the Esselen tribe became greatly impacted by the colonialism. Serra headed the Carmel Mission that was founded in Monterey California neighboring the native community of Tome. Carmel Mission was the first Christian confirmation in the Alta California. Alta was the favorite spot for Serra since it was near Monterey the capital of California. Serra moved the church to a village near the mouth of Carmel Valley to reach the native community of Esselen and Ohlone Indians. The parishioners who were majorly Franciscans began to baptize some of the natives in their new relocation. In December 1771, the Carmel Mission had 15 whites with 22 more baptized Indians, out of the entire Northern California population (Miles 22). The mission was independent on farming yet it was very unproductive, and for many years, the mission relied on the supply ships that arrived from Spain. The summer of 1773, the Spanish government failed to bring the food supply ship so that neither Carmel nor Monterey was able to support itself. Yet, the government still expected them to attend to their commission of converting the local native of that region.

For the Carmel Mission to improve the number of the natives they were baptized, they sought to convert key members of the Rumsen and Esselen and tribes, including the chiefs of the tribes. On 9 May 1775, Junípero Serra managed to baptize the first Pach-hepas, Esselen chief who was 40 years of age. The chief was on his deathbed when he called for Serra to baptize him so he could be able to die as a Christian. He was baptized in his home village at Xasáuan, which was about 42 km southeast of the mission, in an area called Cachagua. After the baptism of that chief, most natives decided to be baptized. Serra was able to baptize all the Ohlone and Esselen Indians who lived near the Carmel Mission. After that, he then forcibly relocated and conscripted the baptized natives as forced laborers. Approximately 900 Esselen accepted to be baptized increasing the number of the congregation at the three missions at Carmel, San Antonio, and Soledad, which surrounded their native land (Watkins 69). The mission encouraged people to comingle extensively, leading to the Costanoans interacting with people from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds during the mission period. The neophytes were taught in Carmel Mission to be farmers, shepherds, candle makers, blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, furniture makers, weaver’s tanners, and cowboys. Disease, overwork, starvation, and torture greatly decimated these tribes. The Mission management never cared to give the native people that they had conscripted into slavery necessity like healthy foods, medications, and allow them to have proper rest (Watkins 89). Serra mainly cared about the labor they were dispensing and even hired men from the governor, Pedros Fages to lash those who were dilly-dallying in the farm. The strenuous activity was cumbersome to women and children who were also included in the hard labor. Most of the native people collapsed and died while working tirelessly. The number of natives who died at the missions was high. Deaths exceeded births, and the population at Mission San Carlos peaked, and the Ohlone and Esselen Indian depreciated in number greatly putting the entire community at risk of extinction (Yamane and Anguila 33).

In conclusion, the Native Americans like the Ohlone and the Esselen Indians were the first Americans to be enslaved before the African American. The Spanish colonialist through Serra inflicted so much pain to this group of the indigenous community by conscripting them to hard labor without wags, food, shelter, rest, or any proper care. He treated the members that he had lured into baptism with the hope of a better life in the Carmel Mission. Instead, Serra used the native conversion as a tool to oppress them through slavery. Just like the other native Americans, they were forced out their land and forced to work for the colonist for free as their women were raped and others turned into concubines as the union of having the church permitted a concubine. The cruelty of the colonist towards the Native Americans was barbaric.

Works cited

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Laverty, Philip Blair. Recognizing Indians: Place, Identity, History, and the Federal Acknowledgement of the Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation, Ph.D. Dissertation, University New Mexico published 2010.  http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/anth_etds/41.  DOA: 12/04/2019.

Lea, Vanessa R. “Ontological Conflicts Concerning Indigenous Peoples in Contemporary Brazil.” Ab-Original: Journal of Indigenous Studies and First Nations and First People’s Cultures 1.2 (2018): 151-175.

Miles, Tiya. Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom, Edited by Earl Lewis et al., 2^nd Ed., University of California Press, 2015.

Sacks, Karen Brodkin. “How Did Jews Become White Folks?” Critical White Studies: Looking Behind the Mirror, Edited by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic, Temple University Press 1997, p. 395-406.

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Yamane, Linda, and Aguilar, Dugan. Weaving a California Tradition: A Native American Basket Maker, Lerner Publications, 1997.