A prevailing idea in the scholarly literature is that the New Laws of 1542 outlawed the enslavement of indios (Indigenous people of the Spanish Indies, a category invented by Europeans) in Spanish America. Many see the enactment of this legislation as emblematic of the Spanish crown's exertion of imperial authority over the conquerors who had caused irreparable damage to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. This article contests this prevailing narrative. It explores how and why the Council of the Indies (the governing council of the Spanish possessions, reporting directly to the king), the Spanish king, and viceroys (or audiencias with viceregal approval) mandated Indigenous slavery for life or for a temporary period. Mandates affected at least 15 Indigenous groups in at least ten locations throughout the Spanish-occupied Western Hemisphere in the seven decades following the passage of the New Laws. I focus on this period to explain the conditions, rationales, legal channels, and procedures used by vassals and local and imperial authorities to authorize the enslavement of targeted Indigenous peoples.

学术文献中的一个流行观点是，1542 年的新法律禁止在西属美洲奴役indios（西属印度群岛的原住民，欧洲人发明的一个类别）。许多人认为这项立法的颁布象征着西班牙王室对征服者行使帝国权威，这些征服者给美洲土著人民造成了无法弥补的损害。本文对这种流行的说法提出了质疑。它探讨了印度群岛委员会（西班牙属地的管理委员会，直接向国王报告）、西班牙国王和总督（或议会）如何以及为什么经总督批准）强制实行终身或暂时的原住民奴隶制。新法律通过后的 70 年间，托管地影响了西班牙占领的西半球至少 10 个地点的至少 15 个土著群体。我重点关注这一时期，解释封臣、地方和帝国当局授权奴役目标土著人民的条件、理由、法律渠道和程序。