A Cubagua inventory records an unnamed Black man aboard a ship

Sancho Ortiz de Urrutia and Juan de Urrutia received permission to take 30 enslaved Africans to Cubagua. The factor Antón López arrived in April, but protests by the island's alcalde limited...

A royal permission allowed Diego Caballero, or an authorized agent, to keep twelve enslaved people in the pearl fishery and trade at Cubagua. The license shows how colonial authorities connected...

The Spanish Crown approved a capitulation with Welser agents concerning the governance, conquest, and settlement of Venezuela. The agreement framed colonization as an armed commercial enterprise and...

An inventory of Pedro de Herrera's possessions on Cubagua listed an enslaved African woman with two children. The record exposes how colonial property accounts rendered a family as assets; it does not...

A Cubagua inventory associated with Miguel de Gaviria listed a Black child called Andresico. The surviving entry is brief and framed by ownership records; it offers a rare personal name while...

A royal decree dated 27 October 1535 instructed officials to investigate illegal enslavement in the province of Venezuela, which the Crown viewed as a center of illicit Indigenous slavery. The measure...

On 17 March 1536, the monarchy required officials to restrict the transportation of enslaved Indigenous people to the Iberian Peninsula unless the governor permitted it. This was a limit on export,...

A royal cédula dated 2 March 1537 is cited in the case of Domingo, described as the son of a prominent man from Gelofe. The published study reports that Domingo ultimately obtained freedom. The cédula...

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...

Bishop Martín de Calatayud began a royal inspection of pearl fisheries on 16 June 1544. His visit examined the treatment and living conditions of Indigenous workers. He ordered better daily food and...