Spanish settlers primarily employed indigenous people as slaves across North and South America. The mission system throughout Baja California and the American Southwest was predicated on Indian labor. One could debate the issues of religious conversion versus enslavement, but the system was based on Indian labor. African slaves were primarily used in the British and former British colonies along the eastern seabord.
The Spanish used captive Africans for forced labor in their colonies, primarily in agriculture, mining, and domestic service. Africans were also used as slaves to generate wealth and resources for the Spanish Empire.
So the settlers didn't have to do most of the work.
European colonizers, particularly Portuguese and Spanish explorers, were among the first to suggest and implement the use of Africans as slaves during the transatlantic slave trade in the 15th century. As demand for labor in the New World grew, European powers authorized the capture and forced labor of Africans to work on plantations and in mines.
The Spanish began using slaves from Africa because the Native American population was declining due to diseases and harsh labor conditions. They turned to African slaves as a source of labor for their colonies in the Americas.
The first African slaves used by Europeans were used by the Portuguese, on the island of Sao Tome, to grow sugarcane. The Spanish were the first to use African slaves in the Americas (in the Caribbean), and the first English colony to use African slaves was Jamestown, Virginia (which was the first English colony in the New World). However, long before Europeans used African slaves, the Africans had slaves who were African!
Spanish
Mainly because other Africans were selling them.
The Middle Passage
The Spanish used African slaves in the New World primarily for labor in industries like mining, agriculture, and construction, where there was a high demand for cheap, manual labor. The indigenous populations were decimated by diseases brought by Europeans, making Africans a readily available and replaceable workforce. Additionally, the Spanish believed that Africans were more resistant to diseases and better suited for the harsh conditions in the colonies.
They wanted to use them as slaves for plantations and labor.
farming
farming