Princípios Jurídicos na Colonização do Novo Mundo: O debate sobre a escravidão indígena nas Américas portuguesa e espanhola

Abstract

Slavery was imposed and molded to unprecedented proportions during the colonization of the New World. However, while holding Africans captive did not perturb the European conscience, the slavery of indigenous peoples instead generated intense debate. The aim of this article is to outline the reasons why blacks and indigenous people were legally segregated in their subjection to colonial law. In the case of the indigenous peoples, we analyze the controversy surrounding their release and captivity by focusing on the ideas of the jurists and theologians who came to legally found the colonial domains in the Americas in the sixteenth century, through their establishment of the legal status of the inhabitants of these territories.