Native American Slavery
Christina Snyder presents to readers an incredibly articulated diagram of the deep rooted history of slavery and the role Native Americans played in it. Snyder’s discussion is centralized around the economic and culture ties slavery participated to in Native American life before and after European introduction into North America. A vial part in understanding the role of slavery to the natives is being able to distinguish why there was a need for slavery to be implemented and to understand how the slaves would be integrated into the societies of the natives.1 From this discussion Snyder explains how a need for slave labor preexisted the integration of Europeans into the Natives society, but there inclusion ultimately altered the way slavery
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Snyder introduces in the first chapter how natives implemented the early practice of slavery to act as a form of tribesman replacement in the aftermath of deadly event such as war in which vital productive members of tribes were often killed. Once the slaves replaced the roles of the deceased they normally found themselves united within the binds of the tight kinships which defined the native tribe’s societal systems. Snyder further enforced her claims through the introduction of firsthand accounts of Native slave survivors such as Juan Ortiz, a Spanish foreigner who found himself enslaved and integrated into Chiefs Ucita tribes kinship quite comfortably after his initial torture. Snyder continues to draw upon even more firsthand accounts of the Natives slave trade delving well into the 19th century where she introduces the accounts of men like Billy Weatherford, who was born a creek Indian and even fought alongside his fellow tribesman, yet by the end managed to be the owner of over 300 slaves. The ownership of slaves had been transformed from the replacement of lost men in a tight kinship society to a vital necessity and a booming capitalistic society. Not only had the Europeans introduced the idea of enslaving African who they considered intellectually
Snyder introduces in the first chapter how natives implemented the early practice of slavery to act as a form of tribesman replacement in the aftermath of deadly event such as war in which vital productive members of tribes were often killed. Once the slaves replaced the roles of the deceased they normally found themselves united within the binds of the tight kinships which defined the native tribe’s societal systems. Snyder further enforced her claims through the introduction of firsthand accounts of Native slave survivors such as Juan Ortiz, a Spanish foreigner who found himself enslaved and integrated into Chiefs Ucita tribes kinship quite comfortably after his initial torture. Snyder continues to draw upon even more firsthand accounts of the Natives slave trade delving well into the 19th century where she introduces the accounts of men like Billy Weatherford, who was born a creek Indian and even fought alongside his fellow tribesman, yet by the end managed to be the owner of over 300 slaves. The ownership of slaves had been transformed from the replacement of lost men in a tight kinship society to a vital necessity and a booming capitalistic society. Not only had the Europeans introduced the idea of enslaving African who they considered intellectually