“Unholy Traffic in Human Blood and Souls”: Systems of California Indian Servitude under United States Rule

From 1846 onwards, at least 20,000 California Indians worked in varied forms of bondage under United States rule in California.  Journalists described these systems of servitude, diarists recorded their horrors, and officials reported whites holding California Indian men, women, and children as unfree laborers. Yet, scholars have written surprisingly little about California's “unholy traffic.” This essay will provide the first survey of the rise and fall of California’s systems of Indian servitude under United States rule, outlining supply-and-demand dynamics while emphasizing state and federal policies, legislation, and law enforcement. This article will also propose the first taxonomy of these systems, which included de jure apprenticeship, convict leasing, indenture, and minor custodianship, as well as de facto debt peonage, chattel slavery, and--to introduce a new category--disposable unfree labor. Finally, this essay explores how California Indian servitude illuminates the histories of California, the western United States, the nation as a whole, and the western hemisphere, while suggesting new analytical methods and research directions.