Slavery in the Philippines may have influenced Australian history

Slavery in the Philippines may have influenced Australian history

Forms of slavery were present in the Philippines archipelago before the Spanish became a colonial power in the islands in the late sixteenth-century. While some sixteenth century Spanish laws prohibited the enslavement of Indigenous peoples, the practice continued well into the eighteenth century. Tens of thousands of unfree peoples from across Asia and the Pacific were transported to, or through, Manila. Slavery shaped the culture of the Philip…