Slavery in Latin America
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Slavery in Latin America was an economic and social institution that existed in
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
from before the colonial era until its legal abolition in the newly independent states during the 19th century. However, it continued illegally in some regions into the 20th century. Slavery in Latin America began in the pre-colonial period when indigenous civilizations including the
Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
and
Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
, enslaved captives taken in war. After the conquest of Latin America by the Spanish and Portuguese. Of the nearly 12 million slaves that were shipped across the Atlantic over 4 million enslaved Africans were brought to Latin America, roughly 3.5 million of those to
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. After the gradual emancipation of most black slaves, slavery continued along the Pacific coast of South America throughout the 19th century, as Peruvian slave traders kidnapped
Polynesians Polynesians form an ethnolinguistic group of closely related people who are native to Polynesia (islands in the Polynesian Triangle), an expansive region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sou ...
, primarily from the
Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...
and
Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
, and forced them to perform physical labour in mines and the
guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
industry of Peru and Chile.


Enslavement of the peoples of the Americas: the ''encomienda'' system

Encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
() was a labor system in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
and its
empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
. It rewarded invaders with the labor of particular groups of subject people. It was first established in Spain during the Roman period but was also used following the Christian conquest of Muslim territories. It was applied on a much larger scale during
Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...
and the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. Subject peoples were considered vassals of the
Spanish monarch , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
. The Crown awarded an ''encomienda'' as a grant to a particular individual. In the conquest era of the sixteenth century, the grants were considered to be a monopoly on the labor of particular groups of Indians, held in perpetuity by the grant holder, called the ''encomendero'', and his descendants. With the ouster of
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
, the Spanish crown sent a royal governor, Fray
Nicolás de Ovando Frey Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres (1460 – 29 May 1511 or 1518) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a Knight of the Order of Alcántara, a military order of Spain. He was Governor of the Indies ( Hispaniola) from 1502 until 1509, s ...
, who established the formal ''encomienda'' system. In many cases, Native Americans were forced to do hard labor and subjected to extreme punishment and death if they resisted. One conquistador, Bartolome de las Casas, was sent to the Caribbean to conquer the land in the name of the Spanish crown. He was rewarded with an
encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
for the effort he gave in honor of the crown, but after years of seeing the poor treatment of indigenous people, he refused to allow such treatment to continue. Las Casas sailed back to Spain, asking King Ferdinand and his wife Isabella to ban Indigenous slavery. In return, he suggested the use of African slaves for the hard labor of the new farmlands in the Caribbean, as they had been enslaving their own in a continent-wide system since 700AD. The Spanish, by this time, had already been using African slaves bought from African Slaving Empires for some of their hard labor in Europe. Due to the persuasion of Las Casas, Queen Isabella of Castle forbade Indian slavery and deemed the indigenous to be "free vassals of the crown". Las Casas expanded on the issue in the famous Valladolid debate. Various versions of the ''Leyes de Indias'' or
Laws of the Indies The Laws of the Indies ( es, Leyes de las Indias) are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. T ...
from 1512 onwards attempted to regulate the interactions between the settlers and natives. The Natives continued to fight wars for their improved treatment for hundreds of years. Both natives and Spaniards appealed to the
Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' ( ca, Reial Audiència, Audiència Reial, or Audiència), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional de ...
s for relief under the ''encomienda'' system. This caused a greater divide between the Spanish and the lower classes of the Indigenous people. According to the new laws set in place by the Spanish crown, the Indigenous people gained some status, albeit still lower than Spanish citizens. This allowed the Spanish to maintain control over the indigenous people by allowing them to assume they would have some power coming from these new laws. These laws, however, only tricked the indigenous into agreeing to the encomienda system. They were allowed to live a more 'civilized' life among the Spanish but were under the impression they would eventually gain the ability to own land for themselves, which was never the intention of the Spanish citizens. The encomienda system brought many indigenous
Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...
to work in the fields and mines in exchange for Spanish
protection Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
,
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
, and a seasonal salary. Under the pretense of searching for gold and other materials, many Spaniards took advantage of the regions now under the control of the '' laborious'' Spanish ''encomenderos'' to exploit the native population by seizing their
land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...
and
wealth Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
. It would take some time before the Native Americans revolted against their oppressors - the Spanish — and many military campaigns before
Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...
eradicated the ''encomienda'' system as a form of slavery.
Raphael Lemkin Raphael Lemkin ( pl, Rafał Lemkin; 24 June 1900 – 28 August 1959) was a Polish lawyer who is best known for coining the term ''genocide'' and initiating the Genocide Convention, an interest spurred on after learning about the Armenian genocid ...
(coiner of the term
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
) considers Spain's abuses of the
Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...
population of the Americas to constitute cultural and even outright
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
including the abuses of the
Encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
system. He described slavery as "cultural genocide par excellence," noting "it is the most effective and thorough method of destroying culture, of desocializing human beings." He considers colonists guilty due to failing to halt the abuses of the system despite royal orders.U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Raphael Lemkin's History of Genocide and Colonialism
/ref> Recent research suggests that the spread of old-world disease appears to have been aggravated by the extreme climatic conditions of the time and by the poor living conditions and harsh treatment of the native people under the encomienda system of New Spain. The primary death driver was work conditions that made any acquired sickness a death sentence as workflow was expected to maintain.


Enslaved Africans in Latin America

The African presence in Latin America had an effect on the culture across Latin America. Black slaves arrived in the Americas during the early stages of exploration and settlement. By the first decades of the sixteenth century, they were commonly participating in Spain's military expeditions. While most slaves were baptized upon arrival to the New World, the Catholic Church did come to the defense of slaves. The Catholic Church accepted Africans as God's children, which is what led to the slaves being baptized. The Catholic Church mandated marriage between slaves in Latin America. This treatment of slaves differs from the United States' treatment of slaves greatly because, in the United States, marriage between slaves was outlawed. Despite owning slaves, the Catholic Church never embraced the racist justifications for slavery so common among Protestant denominations in the United States. However, the Church was far more willing to speak out against the enslavement of Native peoples. People like Bartolome de las Casas were the driving forces for having Indian slavery abolished because they were fearful of the drastic decline of the native population. The Church did not speak out against African slavery in Latin America in quite the same way. The impact of slavery on culture is incredibly apparent in Latin America. The mixing of cultures and races provides the region with a rich history


New Spain

Between 1502 and 1866, of the 11.2 million Africans taken, only 388,000 arrived in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
, while the rest went to
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, the European colonies in the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...
and Spanish territories in Central and South America, in that order. These slaves were brought as early as the 16th and 17th centuries. The slaves would be forced to work in mines and plantations. Today, most African communities live in coastal towns, "Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico, the Costa Chica region on the Pacific".


Atlantic slave trade

During the nearly four centuries in which slavery existed in the Americas,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
was responsible for importing 35 per cent of the slaves from Africa (4 million) while Spanish America imported about 20 per cent (2.5 million) all during the Atlantic Slave Trade. These numbers are significantly higher than the imported slaves of the United States (less than 5 per cent). High death rates, an enormous number of runaway slaves, and greater levels of manumission (granting slave freedom) meant that Latin America and Caribbean societies had fewer slaves than the United States at any given time. However, they made up a higher percentage of the population throughout the colonial period. This being said, the upper class of these societies constantly feared for uprising among not only slaves but Indians and the poor of all racial and ethnic groups.Meade, Teresa A. History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present. Wiley Blackwell, 2016. It was the capital of European merchants, rather than European states, which allowed the
Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and ...
to take shape in the early sixteenth century. For example, in exchange for granting loans in support of
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...
's election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, the German Welser trading house was given immense privileges in the Americas by the Spanish crown, including a license to trade enslaved Africans. Over the next two decades, many other European merchants would pay the Spanish crown for the right to import Africans to the Americas, further enmeshing unfree labor as a key factor in the colonial Latin American economy. Into the eighteenth century, even as American elites began to take a role in the Atlantic trade, European-based traders remained at the heart of the slave trade. Lisbon-based traders especially were key to the continuation of the slave trade to Brazil in the 1700s, as new forms of credit allowed for even larger and more profitable slave voyages than had been possible before.


Slavery in practice

Over 70 per cent of slaves in Latin America worked on sugar cane plantations due to the importance of this crop to economies there at the time. Slaves also worked in the production of tobacco, rice, cotton, fruit, corn and other commodities. The majority of slaves brought to the Americas from Africa were men due to the fact plantation owners needed strength for the physical labor that was done in the fields. However, women were brought to the Caribbean islands to provide labor as well. Female slaves were often responsible for cutting cane, fertilizing plants, feeding cane stalks in mill grinders, tending garden vegetables and looking after children. Men cut cane and worked in mills. They also worked as carpenters, blacksmiths, drivers, etc. In some cases, they were even part of the plantations militia. Notably, despite mining's immense importance to the colonial economy, African slaves were rarely forced to work in the mines. This was partially due to the glut of Indians, both enslaved and free, who were available to work in the mines. Through practices such as
encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
, the repartimento and mita labor drafts, and later wage labor as well, Spanish colonial authorities were able to compel Indians to participate in the backbreaking labor of the silver mines. Specifically because of how labor-intensive and dangerous mining was, it would not have been nearly as profitable for Spanish elites to have forced enslaved Africans to work in the mines. If a slave were killed, or injured and thereby no longer able to work, that would represent a loss of capital to the slaveholder.


Slavery and the Catholic Church

Slavery was part of the indigenous cultures much before the landfall of the Europeans in America. After the Europeans made landfall in America in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella saw that, if Spain did not receive from the Pope in regard to the American "Indies" the same authority and permissions that Portugal had received in regard of West Africa, then Spain would be at a disadvantage in making use of her newly discovered territories. Accordingly, Pope Alexander VI was approached and already on 3 May 1493 he issued two bulls on the same day in both of which he extended the identical favors, permissions, etc. granted to the Monarchy of Portugal in respect of West Africa to the Monarchy of Spain in respect of America.....and to reduce their persons into perpetual slavery...wherever they may be. Although the church was excited by the potential for huge numbers of conversions in the New World, the clergy sent there were often horrified by the methods used by the conquerors, and tensions between church and state in the new lands grew rapidly. The ''
encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
'' system of forced or tenured labor, begun in 1503, often amounted to slavery, though it was not full chattel slavery. The
Leyes de Burgos The Laws of Burgos ( es, Leyes de Burgos), promulgated on 27 December 1512 in Burgos, Crown of Castile (Spain), was the first codified set of laws governing the behavior of Spaniards in the Americas, particularly with regard to the Indigenous p ...
(or Laws of Burgos), were issued by Ferdinand II (Catholic) on 27 December 1512 and were the first set of rules created to control relations between the Spaniards and the recently conquered indigenous people, but though intended to improve the treatment of the Indians, they simply legalized and regulated the system of forced Indian labor. During the reign of
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...
, the reformers gained steam, with the Spanish missionary
Bartolomé de las Casas Bartolomé de las Casas, OP ( ; ; 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, famed as a historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar ...
as a notable leading advocate. His goal was the abolition of the ''encomienda'' system, which forced the Indians to abandon their previous lifestyle and destroyed their culture. His active role in the reform movement earned Las Casas the nickname, "Defender of the Indians". He was able to influence the king, and the fruit of the reformers' labor was the
New Laws The New Laws ( Spanish: ''Leyes Nuevas''), also known as the New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians ( Spanish: ''Leyes y ordenanzas nuevamente hechas por su Majestad para la gobernación de las Indias y buen ...
of 1542. However these provoked a revolt by the conquistadors, led by
Gonzalo Pizarro Gonzalo Pizarro y Alonso (; 1510 – April 10, 1548) was a Spanish conquistador and younger paternal half-brother of Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of the Inca Empire. Bastard son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar (senior) ( ...
, the half-brother of
Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ;  – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru. Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose ...
, and the alarmed government revised them to be much weaker to appease them. Continuing armed indigenous resistance, for example in the
Mixtón War The Mixtón War (1540-1542) was a rebellion by the Caxcan people of northwestern Mexico against the Spanish conquerors. The war was named after Mixtón, a hill in Zacatecas which served as an Indigenous stronghold. The Caxcanes Although othe ...
(1540–41) and the
Chichimeca War The Chichimeca War (1550–90) was a military conflict between the Spanish Empire and the Chichimeca Confederation established in the territories today known as the Central Mexican Plateau, called by the Conquistadores La Gran Chichimeca. Th ...
of 1550 resulted in the full enslavement of thousands of captives, often out of the control of the Spanish government. The second Archbishop of Mexico (1551–72), the Dominican
Alonso de Montúfar Alonso de Montúfar y Bravo de Lagunas, O.P., was a Spanish Dominican friar and prelate of the Catholic Church, who ruled as the second Archbishop of Mexico from 1551 to his death in 1572. He approved and promoted the devotion to Our Lady of ...
, wrote to the king in 1560 protesting the importation of Africans, and questioning the "justness" of enslaving them. Tomás de Mercado was a theologian and economist of the
School of Salamanca The School of Salamanca ( es, Escuela de Salamanca) is the Renaissance of thought in diverse intellectual areas by Spanish theologians, rooted in the intellectual and pedagogical work of Francisco de Vitoria. From the beginning of the 16th cen ...
who had lived in Mexico and whose 1571 Summa de Tratos y Contratos ("Manual of Deals and Contracts") was scathing about the morality of the enslavement of Africans in practice, though he accepted "just-title" slaves in theory. Pressure for the end of slavery and forced labor among the indigenous Indians worked to increase the demand for African slaves to do the work instead.
Rodrigo de Albornoz Rodrigo de Albornoz was an auditor and colonial official in New Spain during the period of Hernán Cortés's government, and before the appointment of the first viceroy. He was a member of the triumvirates that governed the colony for several sho ...
, a layman, was a former secretary to Charles V sent as an official to
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...
, who opposed the treatment of the indigenous, though himself importing 150 African slaves. Las Casas also supported the importation of African slaves as preferable to Amerindian forced labor, although he later changed his mind about this.


Slave resistance

As in any slave society, enslaved people in Latin America resisted their oppressors and often sought to establish their communities outside of Hispanic control. In addition to more passive forms of resistance, such as intentional work slowdowns, the colonial period in Latin America saw the birth of numerous autonomous communities of runaway slaves. In Brazil, where the majority of the enslaved people in Latin America were concentrated, these communities were called
mocambos The mocambos (from ''mocambo'', literally Huts) were village-sized communities mainly of runaway slaves in colonial Brazil, during Portuguese rule. A mocambo differed from a quilombo in size, A quilombo, like the Quilombo dos Palmares, might em ...
or
quilombos A ''quilombo'' (; from the Kimbundu word , ) is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin, and others sometimes called Carabali. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos, called quilombolas, were maroons, a term for es ...
, words which came from the Mbundu language which was widely spoken in the regions of Angola from which many of the enslaved people in Brazil were taken. These communities were often located in proximity to population centres or plantations, as they largely relied on activities such as highway theft and raids to sustain themselves. Mocambos were also often assisted by Black people still residing in towns, such as in the city of Salvador, where Black people living in the city aided the residents of a nearby Mocambo by helping them enter the city at night to purchase gunpowder and shot. From what historical evidence is available, it appears that, in most cases, the aims of most Mocambos were not an overthrow of the colonial system, but merely their continued existence outside of white society.


Palmares

One of the most powerful quilombos in colonial Brazil was the settlement of Palmares, located in the remote captaincy of
Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the ...
. Palmares were much longer-lasting than many of the other quilombos in Brazil. Despite continued efforts to destroy it, Palmares survived for almost the entire seventeenth century, until its eventual destruction at the hands of the Portuguese colonial government in 1694a few of its inhabitants were able to hold out for a few more years, but Palmares was reported as "almost extinct" by 1697. At its height, Palmares is said to have had as many as 20,000 inhabitants, although this number is disputed by historians, some of whom argue that the true population of Palmares was closer to 11,000. Like other quilombos, the inhabitants of Palmares did not seek the overthrow of the colonial system. In 1678, faced with increasing military pressure from the Portuguese, the king of Palmares, Ganga Zumba, offered to swear loyalty to the Portuguese Crown in exchange for a recognition of the quilombo's freedom. The Portuguese took Zumba's offer, and then immediately reneged on its terms, continuing their military expeditions against Palmares until its eventual destruction.


Wealthy African-descended women


In New Spain

Slaveholders, slaves and freed slaves of West and Central African descent were the most watched people in the societies of New Spain, the explanations differ but there is the repetitive correlation between status, family and economic stability that women during this time endured. West and Central African slaves were still prominent in Spanish colonies, however, a rise in societal class was forming: free wealthy West and Central African women, who owned slaves themselves. As status and elegance were a major definer in the Spanish culture, it became apparent what was setting these West and Central African-descent people apart was how they dressed as opposed to the elegance in fabrics, jewels and other prestige items. Freedom becomes more popular for those descended people, forcing them to figure out how to take care of their families' needs from an economical standpoint and statues was a primary factor in their drive towards wealth. Polonia de Ribas was one of many other famous West and Central African-descended slave-owning women, who challenged the predetermined gender roles of men in the family realm and for free women who were not supposed to obtain these luxuries post-freedom. As a result of the trading that was happening from the Atlantic slave trade, many women took the opportunity to purchase slaves to set up their financial stability but in Polonia's case, she was gifted two slaves following her manumission which helped her immensely. Slaves were easily the most expensive item to purchase during that time, not the equipment or the plantation but the slaves, so imagine how financially detrimental it was if one of their slaves would die. It was said that many women used politics in their slave-owning practices but Polonia's additional financial investments helped further her success in her life and other West and Central African-descent slaveowners. Financial investments like working or owning inns since these Spanish colonies were centred around trade, and loaning money to neighbors but she always kept an official notarial account which accounted for all loans and debts; this is important for historians' research. The women often profited from the '' doweries'' that were given to them through the marriage of their husbands, this was another way in which women would be set up with economical status while ensuring a life provided. Slave-owning by women of West and Central African -descent was said to be just a way of supporting their families when no husband was present but it could also have something to do with the lust and the want to be a part of this society that has oppressed them constantly.


In Peru

As seen in the previous section, the main focus is status in society, post-freedom of enslaved women but in Peru, status is closely correlated to its relationship with clothing because of the power it held in an ethically diverse, slaveholding society. It seems absurd that one would enslave after being enslaved but it was because of the "aesthetic" behind having slaves, the exceptionalism one attains within societal eyes when being an owner of slaves. In Peru, the separation in classes and hierarchies was something that Spaniards did not take lightly because they felt an elite sense of European dominance, which was the focal point in the city of Lima when Spaniards wanted to assert dominance over the way that African-descended women dressed and what their clothing signified. African women whether free or not began to have stipulations on what they were to wear through sumptuary laws enforced by white Limeños, trying to secure that autonomy would not be achieved by their oppressors. These laws allowed for only Spanish and elite women were able to wear elegant clothing, gold, silver, silk and slippers with silver bells on them. These laws targeted slave owners and slaves, making sure that they had that separation in classes. Slaves could not afford to wear clothes like that so they must be stealing, this was the thought process of the Spanish lawmakers. If freed women looked like Spanish women then how would you tell them apart, it was considered trickery and they were scrutinized for it so the solution was to wear wool. As clothing does gain more societal popularity and significance, showing the means/wealth of a person but now in a very public fashion. Slaveowners decided that their slaves needed to be dressed in rich clothing to maintain and articulate this elite presence in what is called ''
livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
''. For freed African-descent women, they were not supposed to dress like elite Spanish but since they were not the targeted subject, they were able to wear skirts and blouses made of lace.


In Colombia

In Cartagena, clothing and fashion were also at their prime when trying to distinguish between the elite, freed slaves and slaves, but in this culture. It was because African-descent women were being provocative in the way they dressed so nicely while performing common tasks, whether at home or in public, being referred to as "brash and disruptive." Fear is what drove the Holy Office to perform such intense trials when condemning these women because they did not want their people taking control of them. African-descended women were renounced because of their love magic that correlated with the
witch trials A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...
that were happening during that time. African women were standing out because they were wealthy, the disruption that was seen as a sin or a distraction was just African women wearing clothes made of materials that only elites were to wear. It did not matter whether or not you were wealthy, this was just an expressive way for enslaved and freed slaves to show their individuality, regardless of another oppressor. "Mostly well-off nonwhite women who could not claim the honorable statues of wealthy Española's still dressed as if they were rich and lived in luxury." The passing down of these fine clothes and jewels only aided the future generations to continue this stand against oppression.


20th century


Mexico

Although on September 16, 1825, President Guadalupe Victoria, on the occasion of the Independence celebrations, ordered the erection of a stage in front of the Diputación, whose words engraved in wood expressed the right to freedom for slaves, Mexicans, the majority of whom were indigenous people from all parts of the Mexican Republic, continued to be segregated and used as slaves until the end of the Mexican Revolution. During the deportation of Yaqui under the
Porfiriato , common_languages = , religion = , demonym = , currency = , leader1 = Porfirio Díaz , leader2 = Juan Méndez , leader3 = Porfirio Díaz , leader4 ...
, the
Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republ ...
established large concentration camps in San Marcos, where the remaining
Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
families were broken up and segregated.Spicer, pp. 80–82. Individuals were then sold into slavery from inside the station and packed into train cars which took them to
Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
, where they have embarked yet again for the port town of Progreso in the
Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...
. There they were transported to their final destination, the nearby henequen
plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
. By 1908, at least 5,000
Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
had been sold into slavery.Spicer, pp. 80–82. At Valle Nacional, the enslaved
Yaquis The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
worked until they died. While there were occasional escapes, the escapees were far from home and without support or assistance, most of them died of hunger while begging for food on the road out of the valley toward Córdoba. At
Guaymas Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the U.S. border. The municipality is located on the Gulf of Cali ...
, thousands more
Yaquis The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
were put on boats and shipped to San Blas, where they were forced to walk more than to San Marcos and its train station. Many women and children could not withstand the three-week journey over the mountains and their bodies were left by the side of the road.
Yaquis The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
, particularly children, were rattled off in train cars to be sold as slaves in this process having one or two die simply in the process of deportation. The deaths were mostly caused by unfettered
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemics. Paco Ignacio Taibo II
documenta el brutal genocidio yaqui en nuestro país
/ref> On the
plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
, the
Yaquis The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
were forced to work in the tropical climate of the area from dawn to dusk.
Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
women were allowed to marry only non-native Chinese workers. Given little food and the workers were beaten if they failed to cut and trim at least 2,000 henequen leaves per day, after which they were then locked up every night. Most of the
Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...
men, women and children sent for slave labor on the
plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
died there, with two-thirds of the arrivals dying within a year.


Amazon

The
Amazon rubber boom The Amazon rubber boom ( pt, Ciclo da borracha, ; es, Fiebre del caucho, , 1879 to 1912) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the extraction and com ...
and the associated need for an increasing workforce had a significant negative effect on the indigenous population across
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
, and
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
. As rubber plantations grew, labor shortages increased. The owners of the
plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
or rubber barons were rich, but those who collected the rubber made very little, due to a large amount of rubber that was needed to be profitable. The rubber barons rounded up all the Indians and forced them to tap rubber out of the trees. One plantation started with 50,000 Indians, but when discovered, only 8,000 were still alive. Slavery and systematic brutality were widespread and in some areas, 90% of the Indian population was wiped out. These rubber plantations were part of the Brazilian rubber market, which declined as rubber plantations in Southeast Asia became more effective. Roger Casement, an Irishman traveling the Putumayo region of
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
as a British consul during 1910–1911 documented the abuse, slavery, murder, and use of stocks for torture against the native Indians: "The crimes charged against many men now in the employ of the
Peruvian Amazon Company The Peruvian Amazon Company, also called the Anglo-Peruvian Amazon Rubber Co, was a rubber boom company that operated in Peru in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Based in Iquitos, it became notorious for the ill treatment of its indigenous workers ...
are of the most atrocious kind, including murder, violation, and constant flogging." According to Wade Davis, author of ''One River'': "The horrendous atrocities that were unleashed on the Indian people of the Amazon during the height of the rubber boom were like nothing that had been seen since the first days of the Spanish Conquest." Rubber had catastrophic effects in parts of Upper Amazonia, but its impact should not be exaggerated nor extrapolated to the whole region. The Putumayo was a particularly horrific case. Many nearby rubber regions were not ruled by physical violence, but by the voluntary compliance implicit in patron-peon relations. Some native peoples benefited financially from their dealings with the white merchants. Others chose not to participate in the rubber business and stayed away from the main rivers, because tappers worked in near-complete isolation; they were not burdened by overseers and timetables. In Brazil, tappers could and did, adulterate rubber cargoes by adding sand and flour to the rubber "balls", before sending them downriver. Flight into the thicket was a successful survival strategy and because Indians were engaged in credit relations, it was a relatively common practice to vanish and work for other patrons, leaving debts unpaid.


See also

*
Freedom of wombs Freedom of wombs ( es, Libertad de vientres, pt, Lei do Ventre Livre), also referred to as free birth or the law of wombs, was a 19th century judicial concept in several Latin American countries, that declared that all wombs bore free children. A ...
*
Afro-Latino Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics ( es, Afrohispano, links=no), Afro-Latinos or Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. ...
*
Afro-Mexicans Afro-Mexicans ( es, afromexicanos), also known as Black Mexicans ( es, mexicanos negros), are Mexicans who have heritage from sub-Saharan Africa and identify as such. As a single population, Afro-Mexicans include individuals descended from both f ...
*
Blackbirding Blackbirding involves the coercion of people through deception or kidnapping to work as slaves or poorly paid labourers in countries distant from their native land. The term has been most commonly applied to the large-scale taking of people in ...
* Netto Question


References


Further reading

*Aguirre Beltrán, Gonzalo. ''La población negra de México, 1519-1810''. Mexico City: Fuente Cultural 1946. *Aimes, Hubert H.S. ''A History of Slavery in Cuba, 1511-1868''. New York: Octagon Books 1967. *Bennett, Herman Lee. ''Africans in Colonial Mexico''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press 2005. *Blanchard, Peter, ''Under the flags of freedom : slave soldiers and the wars of independence in Spanish South America''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, c2008. *Bowser, Frederick. ''The African Slave in Colonial Peru, 1524-1650''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1974. *Carroll, Patrick J. ''Blacks in Colonial Veracruz: Race, Ethnicity, and Regional Development''. Austin: University of Texas Press 1991. *Conrad, Robert Edgar. ''World of Sorrow: The African Slave Trade to Brazil''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press 1986. *Curtin, Philip. ''The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1969. *Foner, Laura and Eugene D. Genovese, eds. ''Slavery in the New World: A Reader in Comparative History''. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall 1969. *Flusche, Della and Eugene H. Korth. ''Forgotten Females: Women of African and Indian Descent in Colonial Chile, 1535-1800''. Detroit: B.Ethridge 1983. *Freyre, Gilberto. ''The Masters and the Slaves: A Study of the Development of Brazilian Civilization''. 2nd ed. Trans. Samuel Putnam. New York: Knopf 1966. *Fuente, Alejandro de la. "From Slaves to Citizens? Tannenbaum and the Debates on Slavery, Emancipation, and Race Relations in Latin America," ''International Labor and Working-Class History'' 77 no. 1 (2010) 154-73. *Fuente, Alejandro de la. "Slaves and the Creation of Legal Rights in Cuba: Coartación and Papel," ''
Hispanic American Historical Review ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historian ...
'' 87, no. 4 (2007): 659-92. *Geggus, David Patrick. "Slave Resistance in the Spanish Caribbean in the Mid-1790s," in ''A Turbulent Time: The French Revolutionn and the Greater Caribbean'', David Barry Gaspar and David Patrick Geggus. Bloomington: Indiana University Press 1997, pp. 130–55. *Gibbings, Julie. "In the Shadow of Slavery: Historical Time, Labor, and Citizenship in Nineteenth-Century Alta Verapaz, Guatemala," ''Hispnaic American Historical Review'' 96.1, (February 2016): 73-107. *Helg, Aline, ''Liberty and Equality in Caribbean Colombia, 1770-1835''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 2004. *Heuman, Gad and Trevor Graeme Burnard, eds. ''The Routledge History of Slavery''. New York: Taylor and Francis 2011. *Hünefeldt, Christine. ''Paying the Price of Freedom: Family and Labor among Lima's Slaves, 1800-1854''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1994. *Johnson, Lyman L. "A Lack of Legitimate Obedience and Respect: Slaves and Their Masters in the Courts of Late Colonial Buenos Aires," ''
Hispanic American Historical Review ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historian ...
'' 87, no. 4 (2007) 631-57. * Klein, Herbert S. ''The Middle Passage: Comparative Studies in the Atlantic Slave Trade''. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1978. *Landers, Jane. ''Black Society in Spanish Florida''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press 1999. *Landers, Jane and Barry Robinson, eds. ''Slaves, Subjects, and Subversives: Blacks in Colonial Latin America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2006. *Love, Edgar F. "Negro Resistance to Spanish Rule in Colonial Mexico," Journal of Negro History 52, no. 2 (April 1967) 89-103. *Martínez, María Elena. "The Black Blood of New Spain: Limpieza de Sangre, Racial Violence, and Gendered Power in Early Colonial Mexico," ''
William and Mary Quarterly William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
'' 61, no. 3 (July 2004), 479-520. * Restall, Matthew, and Jane Landers, "The African Experience in Early Spanish America," ''The Americas'' 57, no. 2 (2000) 167-70. *Mattoso, Katia M. De Queiros. ''To be a Slave in Brazil, 1550-1888''. Trans. Arthur Goldhammer. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press 1979. * Miller, Joseph C. ''Way of Death: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730-1830''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1988. *Palmer, Colin. ''Slaves of the White God. Blacks in Mexico 1570-1650''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1976. *Palmer, Colin. ''Human Cargoes: The British Slave Trade to Spanish America, 1700-1739''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press 1981. *Rout, Leslie B. ''The African Experience in Spanish America, 1502 to the Present Day''. New York: Cambridge University Press 1976. *Russell-Wood, A. J. R. ''The Black Man in Slavery and Freedom in Colonial Brazil''. New York: St Martin's Press 1982. * Schwartz, Stuart B. ''Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society: Bahia 1550-1835''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1985. *Sharp, William Frederick. ''Slavery on the Spanish Frontier: The Colombian Chocó, 1680-1810''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1976. *Solow, Barard I. ed., ''Slavery and the Rise of the Atlantic System''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991. * Tannenbaum, Frank. ''Slave and Citizen: The Negro in the Americas''. New York Vintage Books 1947. *Toplin, Robert Brent. ''Slavery and Race Relations in Latin America''. Westport CT: Greenwood Press 1974. *Vinson, Ben, III and Matthew Restall, eds. ''Black Mexico: Race and Society from Colonial to Modern Times''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2009. *Walker, Tamara J. "He Outfitted His Family in Notable Decency: Slavery, Honour, and Dress in Eighteenth-Century Lima, Peru," ''Slavery & Abolition'' 30, no. 3 (2009) 383-402.


External links


Slavery in the Americas
{{Latin America topics Latin American history Slavery in North America Slavery in South America Slavery by region Slavery in the Spanish Empire