Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World

THE AMERICAS

BY KIRK H. BEETZ

It is not known when slavery began in the Americas. It is pos-

sible that the fi rst migrants to the New World already practiced

slavery. How ancient Americans north of Mexico practiced

slavery is something that anthropologists infer from archaeo-

logical information and the practices of Americans when fi rst

recorded by Europeans. Th e earliest peoples to populate the

forests and grasslands of North America were nomadic. Th eir

slaves probably would have been people taken captive from

other groups during raids that may have been staged for the

very purpose of taking slaves. Because there were no beasts

of burden native to North America, the captives would have

been responsible for carrying goods during migrations.

Some early nomadic people settled and built one village

to inhabit during warm months and another for cold months.

Others settled year round into permanent villages. Slaves in

such villages might have been responsible for mundane chores

such as cleaning and cooking. Th e ancient villagers may have

raided other villages or preyed on nomads, taking captives,

possibly children. When a village had a shortage of women,

girls and young women would sometimes be taken to provide

men with mates and to bring in children to repopulate a vil-

lage that had been decimated by natural disasters or warfare.

It is possible that both nomadic peoples and settled peoples

had rituals in which slaves could become free members of the

nations that held them.

Th e region for which there is the most information about

slavery is Mesoamerica, made up of parts of modern Mexico

and Central America. Perhaps the greatest ancient Meso-

american city was Teotihuacán, in Mexico. Its peak of power

was from the fi rst to the seventh century c.e. It was the great-

est military power in Mesoamerica during that period, and

it forced distant Mayan communities to pay tribute. It seems

that the government of Teotihuacán preferred goods such as

jade, obsidian, and brightly colored feathers, but sometimes

a city did not have enough goods for tribute and sent instead

human beings. Th ese slaves were probably used as human

sacrifi ces. Th e other aspects of slavery in Teotihuacán are un-

clear, but it is probable that through debt or conviction of a

crime, a person could become a slave, and that such a slave

might have had the opportunity to earn his or her freedom.

In the case of people enslaved because of crimes, their slavery

might have been limited to a specifi ed period of service.

Th e Maya had a long-lived culture, and their practice of

slavery almost certainly varied as customs changed over time

and from one Mayan city-state to another, but Mayan writ-

ings and archaeological evidence allow for some generaliza-

tions about how the Maya practiced slavery. Slaves were at the

bottom of the social structure. Commoners caught in battle

and then enslaved were possibly regarded as almost nonhu-

man, ranking no higher than animals and perhaps lower

than jaguars and other animals associated with Mayan my-

thology. Th ey existed only to serve their owners, such as the

individual warriors who had captured them. During festivals

they were oft en sacrifi ced. To the Maya these sacrifi ces, which

involved torture, elevated the victims from the status of com-

moners to temporary gods. If slaves survived long enough,

they could earn freedom either through clemency or through

good service to their owners.

Nobles captured in battle might also be enslaved. Aft er

being tortured, they were usually sacrifi ced, because their

deaths brought prestige to those who captured them, to their

cities, and to their kings. Much Mayan warfare was con-

ducted for the purpose of capturing enemy nobility, and war-

riors who captured nobles oft en added the nobles’ names to

their own, enhancing their standing in their community. A

captured noble or member of a roya l fami ly rarely ser ved long

as a slave because sacrifi cing him or her to a god was valuable

in winning the god’s favor.

Th e Maya had an elaborate social structure with a mul-

titude of customs that governed behavior and specifi ed the

Image of Psyche on a lead coffi n lid, Roman; made in Lebanon during

the second to third centuries c.e., said to be from Sidon, Lebanon; the

lead is thought to be an import from Spain or Sardinia, where there

were extensive mines worked by Roman slaves. (© Th e Trustees of the

British Museum)

994 slaves and slavery: The Americas

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