Slavery in Spain

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Slavery in Spain began in the 15th century and reached its peak in the 16th century. The history of Spanish enslavement of Africans began with Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão in 1441. The first large group of African slaves, made up of 235 slaves, came with Lançarote de Freitas three years later.^[1] In 1462, Portuguese slave traders began to operate in Seville, Spain. During the 1470s, Spanish merchants began to trade large numbers of slaves. Slaves were auctioned at market at a cathedral, and subsequently were transported to cities all over Imperial Spain. This led to the spread of Moorish, African, and Christian slavery in Spain. By the 16th century, 7.4 percent of the population in Seville, Spain were slaves. Many historians have concluded that Renaissance and early-modern Spain had the highest amount of African slaves in Europe.^[2]

Spanish slavery can be traced to the Phoenician and Roman eras. In the 9th century the Muslim Moorish rulers and local Jewish merchants traded in Spanish and Eastern European Christian slaves.^{[citation needed]} After the "discovery" of the "New World", the Spanish colonialists decided to use it for commercial production and mining because of the absence of trading networks.^[3] The Native American population was used for this labor but they died in large numbers as a result of war, diseases, exploitation and social disruptions.^[3] Meanwhile, the need for labor expanded, such as for the production of sugarcane.^[3] The problem of the justness of Indian slavery was a key issue for the Spanish Crown. Bartolomé de las Casas was concerned about the fate of the natives and argued in 1516 that white and black slaves should be imported to the Indies to replace the Amerindians.^[3] African slaves did have certain advantages over native slaves as being resistant to European diseases and more familiarity with agricultural techniques.^[3] This preference led to the development of the Atlantic Slave Trade.^[3]

Charles V, Emperor, abolished the enslavement of natives by decree on November 25, 1542 in his Leyes Nuevas New Laws. This bill was based on the arguments given by the best Spanish theologists and jurists who were unanimous in the condemnation of such slavery as unjust; they declared it illegitimate and outlawed it from America—not just the slavery of Spaniards over Indians—but also the type of slavery practiced among the Indians themselves.^[4] The labor system of Encomienda was also abolished in 1550.^[3] However these laws did not end the practice of slavery or forced labor immediately and a new system began to be used repartimiento and mita in Peru. Eventually this system too was abolished due to abuses.^[3] By the 17th century, forced indigenous labor continued illegally and black slave labor legally.^[3]