Miró's 1787 decree: enslaved Indians could sue, "but the decree was not well enforced" (Spanish Louisiana, 1787; Orleans Territory, 1805)

SUMMARYMiró's 1787 decree: enslaved Indians could sue, "but the decree was not well enforced" (Spanish Louisiana, 1787; Orleans Territory, 1805) [Connections: Louisiana (deep), Nov 5, 2026]

RECORD64 Parishes (John C. Rodrigue) says Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró republished the ban on Indian slavery in 1787 and let enslaved Indians sue for freedom, "usually successfully." The editors of the Jefferson Papers note that the 1787 decree "revived an earlier order that emancipated enslaved Native Americans, but the decree was not well enforced." In Jefferson's notes on Indian Agent John Sibley's 1805 account, about the Cances (Lipan Apache) captives: "many were sold to the Fr. inhab at Natchitoches @ 40. or 50. D. a number still there, but free."

PATTERNThe Spanish ban had to be reissued 18 years after O'Reilly. Captives were bought and sold at Natchitoches for 40 to 50 dollars. Freedom depended on a lawsuit, which put the burden on the enslaved person

LENS (WW9)Banned in 1769, banned again in 1787, still being sold for 40 dollars. The paper said free, but the practice said slave

OPENCount the Natchitoches freedom suits filed after 1787 and how the people who won were labeled afterward

SOURCESSlavery in Spanish Colonial Louisiana (64 Parishes, John C. Rodrigue); Notes on John Sibley's Account of Native American Tribes, after 21 May 1805 (Founders Online, National Archives).