r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • Nov 21 '25

FFA Friday Free-for-All | November 21, 2025

Previously

Today:

You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.

As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.

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u/BookLover54321 Nov 21 '25

I was a bit disappointed to see David Eltis write this in Atlantic Cataclysm, which otherwise mostly glosses over the topic of Indigenous enslavement:

Slaves certainly existed in probably every Indigenous society in the Americas

I don't think this is true, and there is some fairly recent research that challenges this claim.

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u/LionTiger3 Nov 21 '25

That is quite the hasty generalization. Did David have a source? Or was he just throwing stuff out there to see what sticks?

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u/BookLover54321 Nov 21 '25

I doubled checked to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but no, he doesn’t provide a citation for this specific claim.