Slavery among Native Americans in the United States facts for kids

Slavery among Native Americans in the United States means two things: Native Americans owning slaves, and Native Americans being made slaves by others. This happened roughly within the area we now call the United States.

Before Europeans arrived, some Native American tribes held war captives as slaves. When Europeans came, they greatly changed how slavery worked. Some Native Americans were captured and sold by other tribes to Europeans. Others were captured and sold directly by Europeans.

Later, in the 1700s and 1800s, a few tribes, like the "Five Civilized Tribes," started owning African American slaves. This was similar to how Europeans practiced slavery.

European contact made slavery much bigger. Tribes raided each other to capture slaves to sell to Europeans. This led to destructive wars among Native American groups and against Europeans.

Native American Slavery Traditions

Many Native American tribes had some form of slavery before Europeans brought African slavery to North America.

How Slavery Changed Over Time

Slavery before Europeans arrived was different from slavery after. Europeans often thought African slaves were racially inferior. But Native Americans took slaves from other Native American groups. They saw these captives as ethnically inferior, not racially.

Another difference was that Native Americans did not usually buy and sell captives before Europeans came. They sometimes traded enslaved people to get their own tribe members back. In some cases, Native American captives could slowly become part of the tribe. The word "slave" might not fully describe these captive people.

When Europeans met Native Americans, the slave trade grew. Native Americans tried to use their captives from enemy tribes to play Europeans against each other. But this plan did not work.

How Captives Were Treated

Native American groups often enslaved war captives. They used them mainly for small jobs. Sometimes, people would bet themselves in gambling. If they lost, they became servants for a short time, or even for life.

How captives were treated varied a lot. Captives could be slaves for life, killed, or adopted into the tribe. Sometimes, adoption happened after a period of slavery. For example, the Iroquoian peoples often adopted captives. This was for religious reasons and followed specific steps.

Many tribes adopted captives to replace warriors who died in raids. Adopted people were expected to take on the jobs and family roles of the lost tribe members. They helped keep the tribe strong.

Captured people were sometimes allowed to join the tribe. They would later have families within that tribe. The Creek people had a system where children born to Creek women and slaves were full members of their mother's clan. This was because leadership passed through the mother's family. The Iroquoian peoples also had a similar system. Tribes often took women and children captives because they adapted more easily.

Some tribes held captives until a payment was made. Other tribes used debt slavery or made tribal members who committed crimes into slaves. These people would get their full tribal status back after working off their debt. Taking prisoners was also important for Native American warriors to show bravery.

Other tribes that owned slaves included the Comanche, Creek, Yurok, Pawnee, and Klamath. When St. Augustine, Florida, was founded in 1565, it already had enslaved Native Americans.

The Haida and Tlingit people in Alaska were known as fierce warriors and slave traders. They raided as far as California. In their society, slavery was passed down through families. Children of slaves were also slaves. Among some Pacific Northwest tribes, up to one-fourth of the population were slaves. They were usually captured in raids or bought from other tribes. Sometimes, slaves were killed in special ceremonies called potlatches. This showed how little the owners cared about property.

Europeans Enslave Native Americans

When Europeans arrived in North America, they changed Native American slavery a lot. Native Americans started selling war captives to Europeans instead of bringing them into their own tribes.

The Spanish enslaved Native Americans in Florida and the Southwest. They used systems like the encomienda. This system was later outlawed but continued in some places.

Europeans needed more workers for sugarcane farms in the Caribbean. So, they sent enslaved Native Americans to these "sugar islands." One historian, Alan Gallay, believes that between 1670 and 1715, 24,000 to 51,000 Native Americans were sent through Carolina ports. More than half of these came from Spanish Florida. This was more than the number of Africans brought to the Carolinas during the same time.

Gallay also says that the trade in Native American slaves was very important for the English empire in the American South. This trade caused wars between tribes and made English colonies unstable. More enslaved Native Americans were sent from South Carolina to other colonies like Virginia and New York.

After 1698, it became easier to import African slaves. This made African slaves more expensive than enslaved Native Americans.

British settlers, especially in the Southern Colonies, bought or captured Native Americans. They used them for forced labor on tobacco, rice, and indigo farms. We don't have exact records of how many were enslaved. Slavery in Colonial America became a system for people who were not European or Christian, like Native Americans and Africans.

The Virginia General Assembly made some rules about slavery in 1705. They said that all servants brought into the country who were not Christians in their home country would be slaves. They also said that if a slave died while being punished by their master, the master would not be punished.

The trade of Native American slaves mostly ended around 1730. It caused many terrible wars among the tribes, like the Yamasee War. These wars, along with more African slaves arriving, stopped the Native American slave trade by 1750. Colonists found that Native American slaves could easily escape because they knew the land. The wars also killed many colonial slave traders. The remaining Native American groups joined together to face the Europeans more strongly. Many surviving groups in the Southeast formed larger groups like the Choctaw and Creek for protection.

The exact number of enslaved Native Americans is not known. Andrés Reséndez estimates that between 147,000 and 340,000 Native Americans were enslaved in North America (not including Mexico). Linford Fisher estimates 2.5 million to 5.5 million Natives were enslaved in all of the Americas. Later records often grouped Native American slaves with African slaves, making it hard to tell them apart.

It's hard to know the full history of Native American slavery. Some people wrongly believed Native Americans were not good servants or that they were all killed or pushed out after King Philip's War. The legal status of some Native Americans was unclear in the 1600s. Some masters tried to make children of Native American servants into slaves. In America, European settlers created a clear line between themselves (who could not be enslaved) and non-white outsiders (Africans and Native Americans, who could be enslaved).

In Spanish colonies, the church gave Native Americans Spanish last names. They recorded them as servants, not slaves. Many Native Americans in the Western United States were enslaved for life. Courts sometimes helped in this enslavement. For example, a Hopi man was enslaved in 1659 for stealing food. In the East, Native Americans were clearly recorded as slaves.

Native American slaves were used for many jobs. They worked on farms, as guides, or as soldiers. They suffered from European diseases and harsh treatment. Many died while enslaved.

The Native American Slave Trade

European colonists changed Native American slavery by creating a new demand for captives. Especially in the southern colonies, colonists bought or captured Native Americans. They used them for forced labor on farms. To get European goods like axes, kettles, rum, and guns, Native Americans started selling war captives to whites.

English colonists used similar reasons as the Spanish and Portuguese for slavery. They saw it as acceptable. They also thought enslaving captives was better than killing them after a "just war." Native American slaves often escaped because they knew the land well. So, captured Natives were often sent to the West Indies or far from their homes.

The first African slave in Jamestown, Virginia, was recorded in 1619. Before the 1630s, most forced labor was through indentured servitude. But by 1636, only white people could be indentured servants. The oldest record of a permanent Native American slave was in Massachusetts in 1636. By 1661, slavery was legal in all colonies. Virginia later said that "Indians, Mulattos, and Negros" were property. In 1682, New York stopped African or Native American slaves from leaving their master's home without permission.

Europeans sometimes viewed the enslavement of Native Americans differently from Africans. They believed Africans were "brutish." While both were seen as "savages," Native Americans were sometimes seen as "noble" people who could become Christians.

New England

The Pequot War of 1636 led to Europeans enslaving Pequot war captives. This happened soon after Connecticut was founded. The Pequot became a key part of New England's slavery. The war was terrible: at least 700 Pequot were killed. Most enslaved Pequot were women and children. Court records show they were slaves for life. Some records show rewards for runaway Native American slaves more than 10 years after the war.

The fact that different tribes did not see themselves as the same "race" helped the slave trade. Tribes like the Chickasaw sold captives from other tribes to gain power.

Rhode Island also enslaved Native Americans, but records are missing. New England governments promised plunder as payment. Commanders like Israel Stoughton saw the right to claim Native American women and children as their due. Few leaders questioned these policies. Roger Williams, who tried to be friends with the Narragansett, was conflicted. He condemned the killing of Native American women and children, but mostly in private.

Massachusetts first kept peace with Native American tribes. But this changed, and enslaving Native Americans became common. Boston newspapers mentioned escaped slaves as late as 1750. In 1790, the U.S. census showed 6,001 slaves in Massachusetts. At least 200 were part Native American. Massachusetts likely had more Native American slaves than Connecticut or Rhode Island. New Hampshire had very few slaves and stayed peaceful with tribes during the Pequot and King Philip's Wars.

Colonists in the South began to capture and sell Native Americans to places like Jamaica and northern colonies. This slave trade destroyed Native American populations in the Southeast. It changed tribal relations. In the 1600s and 1700s, the English in Charles Town (South Carolina), the Spanish in Florida, and the French in Louisiana sought allies among Native Americans. They offered goods like knives, guns, and liquor in exchange for furs and Native American slaves.

Traders and officials encouraged Native Americans to fight each other. This allowed them to profit from captured slaves or weaken tribes. Starting in 1610, the Dutch traded with the Iroquois. The Iroquois gave beaver furs, and the Dutch gave them clothes, tools, and firearms. This made the Iroquois more powerful than other tribes. The Iroquois used this power to fight other tribes like the Eries and Huron. They also started selling war captives. The Iroquois' power, combined with European diseases, devastated many eastern tribes.

American Southeast

Carolina, which included North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, was unique. Colonists there thought slavery was key to their success. In 1680, Carolina's leaders ordered that enslaved Native Americans should have fair treatment. They were to be treated better than African slaves. These rules were made public. This change was due to fear that escaped slaves would tell their tribes, leading to attacks. But this policy was hard to enforce. Colonists saw Native Americans and Africans as the same, and exploiting both was seen as the easiest way to get rich.

It's thought that Carolina traders exported 30,000 to 51,000 Native American captives between 1670 and 1715. This was a profitable trade with the Caribbean and Northern colonies. It was more profitable to have Native American slaves because they could be captured locally. African slaves had to be shipped and bought. Whites in Northern colonies sometimes preferred Native American slaves, especially women and children. This was because Native American women were good farmers, and children could be trained easily.

In December 1675, Carolina's council said it was okay to enslave and sell Native Americans. They claimed that only enemies of English-allied tribes were targeted. They also said enslaved people were willing to work or be moved. But colonists often enslaved people against their will.

John Norris's "Profitable Advice for Rich and Poor" (1712) suggested buying 18 Native American women, 15 African men, and 3 African women. Slave traders preferred captives under 18. They believed younger people were easier to train. In the Illinois Country, French colonists baptized Native American slaves. They wanted to convert them to Catholicism. Church records show thousands of entries for Native American slaves.

In the eastern colonies, it became common to enslave Native American women and African men. This led to many marriages between Africans and Native Americans. This was especially common in South Carolina. Native American women were cheaper to buy than men. They were also skilled farmers. Colonial newspapers often had ads for runaway slaves, mentioning Africans, Native Americans, and those of mixed heritage.

Many early workers, including Africans, came as indentured servants. They could be free after paying off their travel costs. Slavery became linked to people who were not Christian or European. A Virginia law in 1705 said that non-Christian servants would be slaves. It also said that if a slave died during punishment, the master would not be guilty.

In the mid-1700s, South Carolina Governor James Glen tried to make Native Americans dislike African Americans. He wanted to stop them from forming alliances. In 1758, he wrote that it was always the government's plan to create "aversion in them Indians to Negroes."

The Native American slave trade was strongest until about 1730. It caused many destructive wars among tribes. The slave trade created new tensions. Tribes abandoned their homelands to escape wars and slavery. Most of these wars happened in the South. The Westos, for example, moved from Lake Erie to escape the slave trade. They ended up in South Carolina to use trade routes.

The Westos became powerful quickly. But British colonists feared them because they had many guns. From 1680 to 1682, colonists joined with the Savannah tribe, who disliked Westo control of the slave trade. They wiped out the Westos, killing most men and selling women and children into slavery. The Westo tribe was culturally destroyed. Its survivors were scattered or sold to Antigua. Native Americans closer to European settlements raided tribes further inland for slaves to sell.

In response, southeastern tribes fought and hunted more. This changed their traditional reasons for war, which used to be revenge, not profit. The Chickasaw pushed the Houma tribe further south. In 1704, the Chickasaw allied with the British. They brought 12 Taensa slaves. In Mississippi and Tennessee, the Chickasaw played the French and British against each other. They attacked the Choctaw, who were French allies, and others. They set up slave trading posts.

In 1705, the Chickasaw attacked the Choctaw again, even though they had been friends. Several Choctaw families were captured, starting a new war. A single Chickasaw raid in 1706 captured 300 Native Americans. These were quickly sold to English colonists. The fighting continued. In 1711, British colonists also attacked the Choctaw. This conflict, along with slavery and diseases, greatly reduced the Chickasaw population. It went from over 7,000 in 1685 to about 4,000 in 1715.

As southern tribes got more involved in the slave trade, they also got into debt. The Yamasee owed a lot for rum in 1711. The government voted to forgive their debts, but the tribe said they were preparing for war to pay them. The slave trade also affected gender roles in southern tribes. Male warriors started interacting more with colonial men. They began to seek more control over captives to trade with Europeans. Among the Cherokee, this weakened women's power to decide when to wage war. "War women" and "beloved women" were respected for their battle skills. They had the right to decide what to do with captives. This led some women to dress as traders to get captives before warriors.

The Creek, a group of many tribes, banded together to defend against slave raids. They allied with the English and attacked the Apalachee in Spanish Florida. They destroyed them as a people in their search for slaves. These raids also destroyed other Florida tribes like the Timucua. In 1685, the Yamasee attacked the Timucuans. Most colonial-era Native Americans in Florida were killed, enslaved, or scattered. It's estimated that these raids on Florida yielded 4,000 Native American slaves between 1700 and 1705. A few years later, the Shawnee raided the Cherokee.

In North Carolina, the Tuscarora feared that English colonists planned to enslave them and take their land. They attacked in a war from 1711 to 1713. In this war, Carolina settlers, helped by the Yamasee, defeated the Tuscarora. They took thousands of captives as slaves. Soon after, the Yuchis and Yamasee faced a similar fate after falling out of favor with the British. The French armed the Natchez and Illinois tribes against the Chickasaw. By 1729, the Natchez, along with enslaved and runaway Africans living among them, rebelled against the French. A French army, Choctaw warriors, and enslaved Africans defeated them.

Some tribes started to change their trade behavior. They returned to adopting war captives instead of selling them right away. This was because of the heavy losses they faced in the wars.

The combination of slavery, disease, and warfare greatly reduced the free southern Native American populations. It's estimated they went from about 199,400 in 1685 to 90,100 in 1715. The Native American slave trade mostly ended by 1750. Many colonial slave traders died. The remaining Native American groups joined together to face Europeans more strongly. During this time, records show that many Native American women bought African men. But, unknown to the European sellers, the women freed and married these men into their tribes.

Even though the large-scale Native American slave trade ended, the practice of enslaving Native Americans continued. Records from 1771 show Native American children were slaves in Long Island, New York. Native Americans also married while enslaved, creating families of mixed Native American and African descent. Newspapers from the later colonial period sometimes mentioned Native American slaves running away, being bought, or sold with Africans. Many remaining Native American tribes joined groups like the Choctaw and Creek for protection. There are also many stories from former slaves who said they had a Native American parent or grandparent.

Records from the 1800s show that Native Americans were still enslaved, mostly through kidnappings. For example, a former slave named Dennis Grant said his mother, who was full-blooded Native American, was kidnapped in Texas in the 1850s. She was made a slave and later forced to marry another enslaved person. These kidnappings showed that little difference was made between African Americans and Native Americans even in the 1800s. The pressures of slavery also led to groups of runaway slaves and Native Americans living together in Florida. These groups were called Maroons.

Slavery in the Southwest

In colonial and Mexican California, Spanish colonists organized slavery for Native Americans through missions. These missions were supposed to have Native labor for ten years. But in reality, they kept their slaves forever until the Mexican government ended the missions in 1833. Spanish colonists and Native Americans sold or traded slaves at fairs along the Rio Grande.

After the U.S. took over in 1848, Native Americans in California were enslaved from 1850 to 1867. To own a Native American slave, a bond had to be posted. Enslavement happened through raids. It also happened as a punishment for "vagrancy" (homelessness) in 1846, which meant four months of servitude.

Native Americans Enslave Africans

The first record of African and Native American contact was in 1502. Spanish explorers brought an African slave who met a Native American group. In early colonial times, Native Americans and enslaved Africans worked together. They lived together, shared food, remedies, and stories. They also married each other.

Europeans saw both groups as different and lower than themselves because they were not Christian and had different skin colors. Europeans tried to make the two groups enemies. In some areas, Native Americans started to adopt white culture. Over time, some Native American tribes began to own African slaves.

Native American Slavery in the Southeast

The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes tried hard to become like white society. Owning African slaves was one practice they adopted. They were most open to European cultural pressures. Pressures from Europeans, changes in trade (from furs to agriculture), and government efforts to "civilize" tribes led them to adopt farming economies.

Slavery was not new to Native Americans. They often kept war prisoners. But these captives usually replaced dead tribe members. Native American "slavery" before Europeans was not like European slavery. Native Americans did not originally judge people based on skin color.

There are different ideas about why Native American servitude changed to the slavery the Five Civilized Tribes adopted. One idea is that these tribes adopted slavery to protect themselves from federal pressure. They thought it would help them keep their lands. Another idea is that Native Americans started to believe Africans were lower than whites and themselves. Some tribes, like the Chickasaws, began to see African people as property.

In any case, the system of racial classes developed as Europeans tried to control Native American and African land, bodies, and labor. Whether for strategy or racial reasons, the slave trade led to Native Americans owning African slaves. This created new power structures among Native societies. It helped groups like the Five Civilized Tribes gain power and, strangely, helped preserve Native order.

Slavery in the Indian Territory

In the 1830s, all of the Five Civilized Tribes were forced to move to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). This event is known as the Trail of Tears. They brought their enslaved Africans with them. By 1839, most of the 4,500 to 5,000 enslaved Black people in the Indian Territory were owned by people of mixed Native American and European heritage.

Other Native American Responses to African Slavery

Tensions between African Americans and Native Americans in the South varied. Each nation handled the idea of African slavery differently. In the late 1700s and 1800s, some Native American nations gave shelter to runaway slaves. Others were more likely to capture them and return them to their white masters or even enslave them again. Still others welcomed runaway slaves into their societies. This often led to intermarriage between Africans and Native Americans, which was common among tribes like the Creek and Seminole.

Some Native Americans may have disliked slavery. They too were seen as lower than white men. They lacked the power to change the racial culture in the South. It's unclear if some Native American slaveholders felt sympathy for African American slaves based on race.

Missionary work was a way the United States tried to get Native Americans to accept European ways of life. Missionaries spoke out against forcing Native Americans to move. They feared such actions would stop Native Americans from converting. These missionaries also reported that Native American slave owners were cruel. However, some accounts from freed slaves said they were treated relatively well.

American Civil War

Groups like the Pin Indians and the Four Mothers Society were strong opponents of slavery during the Civil War.

Images for kids

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  Statue of Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone woman who was captured and sold.

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  Mrs. Amos Chapman, her daughter, sister (all Cheyenne), and an unidentified girl of African-American descent. 1886.

See also

In Spanish: Esclavitud entre los nativos americanos en Estados Unidos para niños