SLAVERY IN MEXICO: ORIGIN OF SLAVES, ABOLITION - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

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

Nearly 200,000 slaves arrived in Mexican territory, formerly known as New Spain, during the 16th and 17th centuries. These slaves were scattered 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 emancipation statutes 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 sailors 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 Cortés's 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 destroy thousands of indigenous people in Mesoamerica.

Countries of origin

Once New Spain was installed, the slave trade began. Groups from eastern Sudan and the Bantu ethnic group (dispersed throughout central Africa) came to the territory that today comprises Mexico.

Angola, Guinea, and Cape Verde were the predominant places of origin among 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 colony.

Sales and selection criteria

Being considered exchangeable goods, slaves were categorized according to their value and strength. For example, men were stronger and more resistant, while women fell ill more often.

Because of this, two-thirds of the slaves were male; 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 darker skin, and "amulated" were those of a shade closer to yellow.

Slave labors

The need for African labor in New Spain grew due to the decline of the indigenous population. Those who did not die from 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 the United States), but it did benefit widely from it. The slaves worked mainly in the cane plantations, the cattle ranch and the mining; others were part of the domestic servitude.

Situation of the indigenous

At the beginning of the 16th century, in New Spain a large number of indigenous people lived in slavery. By 1517 King Carlos V of Spain had granted permission to his colonies to purchase slaves, and with this began the commercial exchange of Africans.

However, 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 prohibited slavery in the colonies of Spain and Portugal; King Felipe IV of Spain obeyed the orders of the Church and ordered the liberation of the natives, but not the Africans.

Slave position in the castes of New Spain

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

Black and Indian, wolf. Caste painting.

For example, in this system the union of Spanish (white) with Indian 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, "morisco"; from Moorish to Spanish, "Chinese". The division continues with at least 16 more combinations. This union allowed to lessen a little the socio-racial prejudices; however, it did not eliminate the condition of 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 labors were called "maroons."

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 fighting it was difficult to get the landowners to free their slaves, who were then private property.

In 1829, during the brief tenure of Vicente Guerrero (America's first Afro-descendant president), efforts were made to indemnify large numbers of slaveholders.

The total abolition and prohibition of forced labor in Mexico was not absolute until the reissue of the Mexican Constitution in 1917.

Afro-Mexicans

Today, descendants of slaves in Mexico are called Afro-Mexicans. This category also includes 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, as Mexico considers itself a mestizo country and focuses on indigenous and Spanish relations.

Added to this is the fact that, during the colony, the slaves participated in the process of miscegenation and their physical characteristics were not maintained 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 division of castes arose during the Spanish rule in America. BBC World. Recovered 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. Recovered from Scielo.org
4. Palmer, C. (sf) Africa's Legacy in Mexico. Migrations in History. Recovered from Smithsonianeducation.org
5. Porras, A. (2015) Mexico's black president abolished slavery before US Civil War. Hispanic Link. Recovered from Newstaco.com
6. Richmond, D. (2004) The Legacy of African Slavery in Colonial Mexico (1519-1810). Wiley Online Library. Recovered from onlinelibrary.wiley.com