jan 9, 1542 - Spanish Policy: New Laws of 1542 (NAT, SOC)

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Spanish policy dictating the treatment of the subjugated Native American as well as displaced and enslaved African peoples adjusted over time with the arguments of individuals advocating for the humanity, freedom, enslavement, and inhumanity of the peoples. The Spanish were motivated to act upon the Natives partially due to a desire to spread their religion. Due to the primary presence of men out of the Spanish colonial population, marriage between the Natives and African peoples occurred, which in turn led into adaptations in Spanish policy forming a caste system primarily based on European hierarchal views on racial identity and lineage (leading to classes such as “Mestizo”, or “Peninsulare” ). Spanish law concerning the treatment of non-European peoples adapted in light of for example the pleas of Bartolome de Las Casas who advocated for improved treatment of Native Americans and an end to their slavery, instead advocating for the use of “better” West African slave labor (a view he recanted later in life); viewing the Natives as human and deserving of treatment as such and historically laying out initial arguments in their favor. Through advocacy of these views, de Las Casas was able to persuade King Charles V to reform Spanish policy concerning the Natives, ending their slavery and curtailing the encomienda system. These changes were to an extent reverted after the Valladolid debate in which some made arguments about the inhumanity of Natives and pushback from Spaniards who hoped to keep the original systems, showcasing the majority perspective on Natives in particular.

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