Slavery in Mexico (New Spain): Where the Slaves Come from, Situation of the Indigenas, Abolition of Slavery

The slavery in Mexico It was a social regime that began with Spanish colonization and officially ended on December 6, 1810. As in the rest of America, slavery in Mexico consisted of the use of African people in forced labor, who were marketed as goods and came mostly from sub-Saharan Africa.

To the Mexican territory, formerly known as New Spain, nearly 200,000 slaves arrived during the 16th and 17th centuries. These slaves dispersed throughout the country and were employed in both heavy labor and servitude.

El Costeño, by José Agustín Arrieta

After the independence movements carried out in Mexico, one of the statutes of emancipation was the abolition of slavery, which was granted in 1810. However, eradicating the practice completely took little more than a century.

Where did the slaves come from?

The first slaves: their participation in the fall of the Aztec Empire

The first known record of Africans in Mexican territory dates from the expeditions of Hernán Cortés. The Spanish navigators were accompanied by some of their workers as slaves, who came from Portugal and Spain.

It is estimated that at least 6 slaves left with Cortes' expedition and played an important role in the capture of Tenochtitlán, the great city of the Aztecs. It is believed that one of them, sick with smallpox, was the cause of the great epidemic that would end with thousands of indigenous people in Mesoamerica.

Countries of origin

Once the New Spain was installed, the slave trade began. To the territory that today comprises Mexico, groups arrived from East Sudan and the Bantu ethnic group (dispersed throughout Central Africa).

Angola, Guinea and Cape Verde were the predominant sites of origin among the slaves; later, ships with slaves from the Canary Islands also arrived. It is estimated that, in total, 200,000 slaves set foot in New Spain during the colonial period.

Sales and selection criteria

Being considered interchangeable goods, slaves were categorized according to their value and strength. For example, men were stronger and more resistant, while women became sick more often. By this, two thirds of the slaves were males; the rest were women considered necessary to procreate.

As they came from different areas of the African continent, there used to be a marked difference between the ethnic groups of the slaves. The terms"retinto"were coined for those with the darkest skin, and the"amulatados"were those of a tone closer to yellow.

Slave work

The need for African labor in New Spain grew due to the decline of the indigenous population. Those who did not die because of the diseases brought by the Spaniards, could not bear the arduous days of heavy work imposed by the colonizers.

The economy of New Spain was not totally based on slavery (as was that of the United States), but it did benefit greatly from it. The slaves worked mainly in cane plantations, livestock and mining; others were part of domestic servitude.

Situation of the indigenous

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, in New Spain a large number of indigenous people lived in conditions of slavery. By 1517 King Charles V of Spain had granted permission to his colonies for the purchase of slaves, and with this the commercial exchange of Africans began.

However, the Dominican friars and other members of the Catholic Church denounced the mistreatment suffered by the native inhabitants of the Americas. In 1639 Pope Urban VIII banned slavery in the colonies of Spain and Portugal; King Philip IV of Spain accepted the orders of the Church and ordered the liberation of the natives, but not the Africans.

Position of the slaves in the castes of New Spain

During the viceroyalty, the three main social groups based on ethnic groups were"white","Indian"and"black". From these, an exhaustive system of social division called"caste system"was created.

Black and Indian, wolf. Painting of Breeds.

For example, in this system the union of Spanish (white) with India produced a mestizo. Unlike other models of slavery in America, where Africans were excluded, in New Spain they were part of the ethnic mix.

The mixture of Spanish and black was called"mulato"; the mulatto with Spanish,"Moorish"; of Moorish with Spanish,"Chinese". The division continues with at least 16 more combinations. This union allowed a little relaxation of socio-racial prejudices; however, it did not eliminate the condition of the slaves.

Abolition of slavery

Throughout the colonial period, slave revolts were carried out in search of emancipation. In the state of Veracruz the fugitives were led by Gaspar Yanga and started their own autonomous communities called"palenques". Africans who fled their slave labor were called"cimarrones".

In 1810, during the struggle for the independence of Mexico, the liberator Miguel Hidalgo included the abolition of slavery in the statutes of the independence movement. However, after the struggle it was difficult to get the landlords to free their slaves, who were then private property.

In 1829, during the brief term of Vicente Guerrero (the first president with African descent of America), efforts were made to compensate a large number of slavers. The total abolition and prohibition of forced labor in Mexico was not absolute until the Mexican Constitution was reissued in 1917.

The Afro-Mexicans

At present, the descendants of slaves in Mexico are called Afro-Mexicans. In this category are also included the descendants of Africans who recently immigrated to the country. However, unlike other countries with African influence, Afro-Mexicans do not make up a significant part of the population.

Their cultures and traditions have been overshadowed, since Mexico is considered a mestizo country and focuses on indigenous and Spanish relations. This is compounded by the fact that, during the colony, the slaves participated in the mestizaje process and their physical characteristics did not hold up over time.

In Mexico, the populations with the highest concentration of Afro-Mexicans are found in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Veracruz.

References

1. Brooks, D. (2017) Criollos, mestizos, mulatos or saltapatrás: how the caste division emerged during Spanish rule in America. BBC World. Retrieved from bbc.com
2. Lenchek, S. (2008) Slavery in Mexico: Mexico History. Mexconnect. Recovered from mexconnect.com
3. Olveda, J. (2013) The abolition of slavery in Mexico (1810-1913). Historical Signs; 15-29. Retrieved from Scielo.org
4. Palmer, C. (s.f) Africa's Legacy in Mexico. Migrations in History. Retrieved from Smithsonianeducation.org
5. Porras, A. (2015) Mexico's black president abolished slavery before U.S. Civil War. Hispanic Link. Retrieved from Newstaco.com
6. Richmond, D. (2004) The Legacy of African Slavery in Colonial Mexico (1519-1810). Wiley Online Library. Retrieved from onlinelibrary.wiley.com