Labor, Migration, and Settlement

Chapter 5 began by focusing a lot on labor and labor systems. As Egerton mentioned, “the Atlantic world depended on bound labor, so Indian, European, and African migrant systems were all linked and dictated by the demand for labor” (Chapter 5, 150). Mobilizing Indian workers became a priority when the Spanish arrived in the Caribbean. As Egerton mentioned, “Columbus made no idle comment when he observed of the Taino, ‘they should be good servants’” (Chapter 5, 150). It still shocks me how someone can just view a entirely different race as potential servants or slaves instead of as equals. They came up with the system of encomienda in order to force Indians into labor. To make it worse, there was also the concept of “just war,” which allowed the enslavement of anyone who rejected Spanish domination and Christianity. In my opinion, this was just a cruel, ridiculous, cowardly and close-minded excuse to use in order to enslave people. They attacked innocent tribes, villages, and different races just because they refused to conform to their own ideas and beliefs. A lot of the work that Indians were forced to do were very deadly. Many others died from catastrophic epidemics that eventually led to a large decline in the Native population.