Commentary No. 066
Date: 1511, July 6.
Theme: The King approves the proposal to move “Indians and slaves” away from the San Cristóbal’s mines that were not yielding the expected gold output.
Source: PARES, Portal de Archivos Españoles, Archivo General de Indias, INDIFERENTE, 418,L.3 – 192 – Imagen Núm: 177/709
In this order issued in July of 1511 and sent to the colonial treasurer representing the Spanish crown in La Española, Miguel de Pasamonte, the Spanish king cites prior information reportedly received from the treasurer himself that confirms the presence of a number of enslaved Blacks (“esclabos”) working mines like those of San Cristóbal (west of the City of Santo Domingo) jointly with La Española’s natives as part of a mining labor force that the king describes as his (“ours”). The document therefore reaffirms the fact that a part of the earliest enslaved African Blacks brought to La Española were imported to work in mining, before the cane sugar production business took hold in the colony.