The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America [Paperback]

“Long-awaited and important . . . No other book before has so thoroughly related the broad history of Indian slavery in the Americas.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A necessary work . . . [Reséndez’s] reportage will likely surprise you.”—NPR

“One of the most profound contributions to North American history.”—Los Angeles Times

Since the time of Columbus, Indian slavery was illegal in much of the American continent. Yet, as Andrés Reséndez illuminates in his myth-shatteringThe Other Slavery,it was practiced for centuries as an open secret. There was no abolitionist movement to protect the tens of thousands of Natives who were kidnapped and enslaved by the conquistadors. Reséndez builds the incisive case that it was mass slavery—more than epidemics—that decimated Indian populations across North America. Through riveting new evidence, including testimonies of courageous priests, rapacious merchants, and Indian captives,The Other Slaveryreveals nothing less than a key missing piece of American history. For over two centuries we have fought over, abolished, and tried to come to grips with African American slavery. It is time for the West to confront an entirely separate, equally devastating enslavement we have long failed truly to see.

“Beautifully written . . . A tour de force.”—Chronicle of Higher Education
 

A landmark history—the sweeping story of the enslavement of tens of thousands of Indians across America, from the time of the conquistadors up to the early twentieth century

ANDRÉS RESÉNyDEZ is a professor and historian at the University of California, Davis. He is the author ofA Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca,which Carolyn See called “impossible to put down” (Wló,