A royal decree of 25 June 1558 prohibited the future use of Indigenous people in pearl fishing and specified that Africans could be used for the work. In practice, the measure shifted the burden of a dangerous extractive industry toward enslaved Africans; it did not abolish slavery or end exploitation in the fishery. Read alongside earlier inspections, the decree shows a racialized labor transition in which legal protection for one group could coexist with the forced labor of another.
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What was the labor effect of the 1558 pearl-fishing decree?
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Explanation
The decree barred future Indigenous labor in pearl fishing and allowed Africans to be used; it did not abolish slavery.
The 1558 decree abolished slavery in pearl fisheries.
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Explanation
It excluded Indigenous workers from the fishery and allowed Africans to be used; slavery continued.