The New Laws issued at Barcelona prohibited the enslavement of Indigenous people across Spain’s American possessions and required authorities to address abuse. The text also specifically directed the bishop and judge in Venezuela to protect people working in the pearl fisheries, naming both Indigenous and Black enslaved workers and ordering that deaths cease. This was a legal intervention against Indigenous enslavement and lethal working conditions, not a ban on African slavery. The law’s protective language did not itself prove that colonial practice changed.
Ainda no tin imágen ni vidio pa e suseso aki.
Eventonan Relashoná
What did the 1542 New Laws say about Indigenous enslavement?
The New Laws prohibited enslaving Indigenous people, while the Venezuela fisheries clause also addressed the safety of Indigenous and Black enslaved workers.
The New Laws banned African slavery throughout Venezuela.
They prohibited Indigenous enslavement and addressed deadly conditions in Venezuela fisheries, but did not abolish African slavery.