Podcast Summary
Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Shu Wan
Guest: Dr. Jean Pfaelzer
Episode: "California, a Slave State" (Yale University Press, 2023)
Date: December 29, 2025
Overview
In this episode, host Shu Wan interviews historian Dr. Jean Pfaelzer about her new book, California, a Slave State, which uncovers the long, deeply entrenched and often-hidden history of slavery in California. The discussion traces 250 years of human bondage—from the Spanish missions and Russian fur traders through Gold Rush-era slavery, sexual trafficking, and up to modern human trafficking. Pfaelzer’s research challenges the widely held misconception that California was always a “free state,” revealing that freedom has always been a contested, hard-fought struggle.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Dr. Pfaelzer’s Background and Motivation (01:42–08:55)
- Dr. Pfaelzer was raised and educated in California and deeply affected by discovering the extent of its slaving past, which she never learned in school.
- A haunting photograph of a young, enslaved Chinese girl in a San Francisco brothel, paired with a 2015 case of modern human trafficking in Humboldt County, motivated her to research the persistent thread of slavery in California's history.
Quote:
"How did this happen? What happened to the 13th Amendment and the promise of liberty and the promise of freedom?... I kept asking myself... those were my bookends for why I started to write this book."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (04:00)
2. The Central Argument: Freedom as Struggle (10:06–14:08)
- Pfaelzer’s book underscores that “freedom is a struggle, not a status.” She emphasizes freedom requires constant vigilance and activism, not just legal decrees.
- She reflects on how celebratory visions of freedom (e.g., Juneteenth) can obscure the hard, ongoing work required to maintain and expand actual rights.
Quote:
"Freedom is something we have to constantly renegotiate and remind ourselves and fight for... Freedom is not a status. It's not a stare where we've landed and that it's over."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (10:42)
3. Empires and Enslavement in California’s Origins
The Spanish Empire & Mission Slavery (15:04–19:29)
- Spanish colonization, led by figures like Father Junipero Serra, initiated organized enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Native Californians via the mission system.
- Early and well-coordinated indigenous resistance, such as the Kumeyaay revolt burning Mission San Diego and freeing enslaved people, punctuates this era.
Quote:
"The Mission San Diego de Acala in San Diego launches this chain of 21 missions. And it’s a slave plantation... Our story begins with empire, invasion, brutality, rape, human bondage, and liberation."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (17:20)
The Russian Empire & Alaskan Slave Trade (20:29–25:15)
- The Russian Empire’s presence in Alaska and Northern California contributed to a Pacific slave triangle, capturing and forcing Alaskan Natives to hunt otter pelts for Chinese markets.
- Russian traders abandoned enslaved Native families on California’s coastlines, linking global trade demands to local exploitation.
Quote:
"Russia is the first group to transport slaves into California... The Russians forced the Alaska Natives to kill the sea otter. They captured the women. They hold them ransom for otter skins."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (22:00–22:52)
4. Slavery During the Gold Rush and Statehood
Enslaved and Free Black Californians (26:38–30:26)
- Southern enslavers brought enslaved Black people to work in the goldfields; simultaneously, free Black Americans traveled to California, chased by the dangers of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.
- Free Black communities spearheaded early civil rights activism in California, organizing legal defenses and mutual aid despite being barred from testifying in court.
Quote:
"Without being able to enter evidence, you can't prove that you're a free person. So free Blacks are organizing a profoundly important civil rights movement based on the right to testify, which is a step toward freedom."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (28:55)
Native Californians and Forced Indenture (31:11–34:08)
- The 1850 “Act for the Government and Protection of the Indian” legalized the kidnapping and forced “indenture” of Native Americans—affecting children, women, and men as laborers and as sexual slaves.
- Native peoples driven from their homes by genocide became targets for traffickers and ranchers alike.
Quote:
"Native villages are being burned... [the act] is to legalize the forced kidnap and forced indenture of Native Americans... everywhere the women are forced into sexual slavery."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (32:00–33:55)
5. Gendered Slavery and Sexual Trafficking (35:01–38:45)
- Across all eras, women—especially Native and Chinese women—were at specific risk of being trafficked and sold for sexual exploitation.
- Contractors kidnapped destitute Chinese girls and transported them to California for sale into urban brothels, often with family complicity due to famine and poverty.
Quote:
"Wherever there was slavery, there was sexual slavery. And we see it going through to today with sex trafficking and modern human trafficking."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (38:20)
6. The Rise of the Carceral State and Forced Prison Labor (39:33–45:04)
- San Quentin prison’s origins are rooted in exploitation, with early prisoners forced to build public infrastructure and manufacture sacks for export agriculture under inhumane conditions.
- Private interests profited from prison labor, establishing patterns of economic exploitation through incarceration that persist today.
Quote:
"The prisons are supporting private farmers in California... The bags are being made by tortured prisoners... If they spoke, they were tortured. One of the largest prison strikes [was] 1,000 prisoners in San Quentin refusing to work."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (41:50–44:40)
7. Modern Human Trafficking in California (46:27–51:15)
- Pfaelzer denounces the myth that “slavery is over” in the U.S.; modern labor and sex trafficking remain pervasive, with forced laborers present in agriculture, hospitality, domestic work, the drug trade, and more.
- She points out growing public awareness, such as multilingual anti-trafficking signs in restrooms, but stresses the need for vigilance and activism.
Quote:
"There are many threads that tie the old slavery to the new slavery... The pleasure centers, the sex trade, are all being supported by unfree labor. And it's up to us to see it. We're beginning to see signs of recognition... But it's our job to notice it and to become abolitionists and to become rescuers."
— Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (48:00–51:03)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (On the “free state” myth):
"I never understood that California was not a free state... I had no idea the depth of the history of human bondage in California." (02:47) -
Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (On slave revolts):
"I didn’t know there were slave revolts at the missions... the Kumeyaay Indians swoop in ... they burn the mission, they kill the head priest, and they free all of the Kumeyaay." (18:00) -
Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (On present-day responsibility):
"It's up to us to see it. We're beginning to see signs of recognition ... It's our job to notice it and to become abolitionists and to become rescuers." (50:36)
Timestamps for Major Segments
- 01:42 — Dr. Pfaelzer’s introduction and personal background
- 04:00 — Origin stories: the haunting image and a modern trafficking case
- 10:06 — "Freedom is a struggle, not a status" explained
- 15:04 — Spanish empire & indigenous enslavement
- 20:29 — Russian empire, Alaskan Natives, and the Pacific slave trade
- 26:38 — The Gold Rush: Black slaves and free Black activism
- 31:11 — Native Americans and state-sanctioned servitude
- 35:01 — Gendered slavery: sexual exploitation of women
- 39:33 — Origins of the carceral state, prison labor exploitation
- 46:27 — Modern human trafficking and ongoing legacies
Conclusion
Dr. Jean Pfaelzer’s California, a Slave State reframes California’s history as fundamentally intertwined with slavery and bondage, from its colonial foundations to today's human trafficking. The episode is a call to awareness, challenging listeners to recognize the state’s true legacy and demanding activism for liberation in the present.
Recommended:
"California, a Slave State" by Dr. Jean Pfaelzer – Yale University Press, 2023