The Spanish Colonies

1
The Spanish Colonies
2
Born a Native

• Born as a native in 1525 south of the central
  valley
• Taunted and brutalized by the Spaniards from
  birth
• My mother tells stories of freedom and opulence
• The Spanish believe we are savage and uncouth

3
The Encomienda System

• Before my birth my family was relocated to a
  Spanish town in the central valley
• The Laws of Burgos passed on July 28, 1513
  justified these actions of the Spanish
• Under the ecomienda system my parents were forced
  into labor on large tracts of land
• I was born into this system of slavery

4
The Requerimiento

• Our people forced to attend Catholic church
  regularly
• Forced to pray in Latin and worship Christ
• Stripped of our traditional clothing and forbade
  from bathing
• Spanish viewed this system as just and
  compassionate
• Failure to comply led to enslavement or death

5
Disease

• 4 out of 5 natives died no immunity
• Thousands of our people died from Spanish
  diseases
• smallpox, chicken pox, diphtheria, influenza,
  scarlet fever, measles,
• typhoid, mumps, influenza, and cocoliztli
• Spanish became more desperate for labor

6
African American Enslavement

• Loss of native labor
• Black slaves replaced and worked along side our
  native people
• King Charles V of Spain had agreed to the
  shipment of 4,000 Africans a year to the Americas

7
Bartolomé de las Casas

• Father of anti-imperialism and anti-racism
• A priest, a scholar, a historian, and a Spanish
  Colonist
• Believed that my people are obedient, faithful,
  and virtuous
• His word led the Spanish royalty to establish the
  New Laws of 1542
• Bartolomé de Las Casas wanted to save our souls

8
New Laws of 1542

• System of rotational labor
• We were required to work only six percent of each
  year
• Our people were supposed to paid for our labor
• Split up among Spaniards according to who needed
  the most economic help
• Administrators were supposed to control the
  Spaniards treatment of our people

9
Corruption in the Repartimiento

• We continued to suffer through beatings
• Little money we did receive went to the Spanish
  Crown and to the Catholic Church
• The Spanish cared nothing of our mistreatment
• They only worried that they would loose their
  labor force

10
The Mines

• Silver mines had been discovered to the north of
  the central valley, especially in Zacatecas, Real
  del Monte, Pachuca, and Guanajuato
• Silver has accounted for nearly 80 percent of all
  exports from the Americas
• The labor of the mines was much more grueling,
  enough to kill our strongest men

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Silver Mine, El Chino
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Debt Peonage

• Employed by Spanish landowners further from
  concentrated areas
• Natives paid in the form of loans
• Patróns were benevolent and generous
• More freedom for our people

13
Acculturation

• Natives acquiesced to Spanish religious
  instruction for fear of mistreatment
• Close contact with these foreign men
• Difficulty of continuing traditional practices

14
Conclusion

• Natives of Mexico suffered severe instances of
  violence at the hands on the Spaniards
• Torn from traditional villages and concentrated
  in centers
• The Spanish developed the encomienda system which
  forced natives into slavery
• New Laws of 1542 ended the encomienda system and
  instituted the repartimiento system
• Decimation of the native population can be
  attributed to disease

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The Slave Owners
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Importing Slaves

• Indigenous slaves burdensome moved towards
  African American slavery.
• August 18, 1518 Charles V granted Lorenzo de
  Gorrevod permission to import 4000 African slaves
  into New Spain.

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Imported Slaves

• Estimated 36,500 African slaves were brought to
  the shores of Mexico.
• Blacks were better slaves than indigenous people
• More willing to work
• More able-bodied
• Less-likely to escape
• Didnt know the land

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Slave Economy

• Seeing the value and demand, many invested in the
  selling and trading of slaves.
• Prices varied enormously from place to place
  based on the distances involved.
• Quality of slaves determined prices
• Youth
• Strength
• Health
• Ability

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Life at the Hacienda

• Began at 4am by ringing the work bell
• Meal breaks at noon
• Observed workers
• Had overseers to do work
• Entertained guests, spent time with family,
  watched over hacienda

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Responsibilities of Hacendados

• Religious Responsibilities
• Had to convert Indians to Catholicism
• Other religions were not allowed
• Punishable by whipping
• Built a church on the land
• Indians and Africans go on days off
• Missionaries came to teach about religion

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Responsibilities cont

• Schools
• Built schools on land
• Used to acclimate the workers to the new culture
• Government involvement
• Sent teachers to school
• Provided books
• Children learned reading, geography, and
  mathematics
• Girls also learned to sew, cook, and nurse

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Profits for Haciendas

• All daily products used are produced on hacienda
• Clothes weaved in shops
• Livestock used for meat
• Fruits and vegetables grown in fields
• Traded with nearby hacendados
• Indebted peonage
• Pay and clothing advances
• Indians spent money frivolously
• Constant work force
• Sugar cane

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Clothing

• Leather trousers and jacket with silver buttons
• Sarape
• Bright colors
• Straw sombrero
• Pearl hand pistol
• Shows wealth and status

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House

• Large and luxurious - adobe
• Porch that surrounds entire house
• Beautifully decorated
• Ornate paintings and woven rugs
• Tile floors
• Glass chandeliers
• Elaborate wood carvings
• Outside
• Courtyard
• Trees and shrubs
• Fountains
• Bell tower

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Events at Hacienda

• Weddings
• Baptisms
• Holidays
• Saints days
• Entertain guests
• Hacendado
• Judge

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Slaves
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Life Before Migration to Mexico

• Worked in the fields daily in their homelands
  where they acquired useful skills
• Slaves came from Ghana, but from Côte d'Ivoire,
  Senegal, Gambia, Nigeria, Congo, and Angola
• Journey lasted nine months, unbearable conditions
  where disease spread rapidly, only a third
  survived

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Why Slavery was Introduced

• In 1517, Bartolome de las Casas proposed to King
  Charles V of Spain to use African slaves instead
  of the dying indigenous people
• Spain had been converting
• the natives and did not want
• to use the newly converted
• Catholics as slaves.
• Africans had already developed
• skills in mining, agriculture,
• ranching, forging metal

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Life of a Slave Man and Woman

• Were allocated two hours of free time a day
• Preserved their culture with song and dance
• Were given adequate corn and children over the
  age of ten were given a ration of beef
• Worked long days in the fields it was the main
  reason they had been brought to Mexico
• Working on the fields included many different
  tasks such as clearing, planting, and
  cultivating cane fields

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Life of a Slave Man and Woman cont

• Sugar production was the most physically
  demanding and dangerous task performed by the
  Africans
• The hazardous machinery cost many Africans their
  limbs and sometimes even their lives
• Women slaves were scare the ones that were there
  were most commonly used as servants or domestics

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Siete Partidas

• Provided certain rights for slaves
• Mandated the caste system
• Limited the masters power over a slave
• Slaves were not allowed to work before the age of
  17 or after the age of 60
• Prohibited to wear extravagant clothing, carry
  firearms, or be on the street after dark
• Prevented native people from being enslaved
• Discussed how a slave could be emancipated
• EX Judge could fix a price for freedom

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Methods of Resistance

• In 1609 there was an organized rebellion in
  Veracruz
• This rebellion was lead by two men by the name of
  Gaspar Yanga and Francisco de la Matosa
• After fierce battles, Yanga came to negotiate a
  peace with the viceroy Luis de Velasco
• A black community, called "San Lorenzo," which
  was later renamed as Yanga was founded and still
  exists
• Spanish authorities suspected a new rebellion, in
  1612, they imprisoned, tortured and executed 33
  slaves (twenty nine males and four women).
• Black slaves would wear Spanish petty coats in
  rebellion because it was considered blasphemous
• Other forms of rebellion included running away

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Spanish Freed Slaves
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Castas

• Absolute, exacting social stratification
• Stigmatized by birth and skin color
• Male slave free woman free children
• Light-skinned could pass for high castas

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Castas cont

• Main Castas
• Peninsular
• Criollo
• Mestizo
• Mulatto
• Other Castas for heritage combinations,
  derogatory names (Coyote, Lobo, etc)

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Manumission

• Allowed by Siete Partidas
• Favorites freed in wills, sometimes freed with
  residual terms of service
• Regulatory actions against abusive masters
• Other methods purchase, escape, military service

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Cimarones

• Runaway slaves
• Preyed on travelers, citizens
• Often banded w/ natives
• Lived in secluded areas, small bands
• Forced into treaty to return new runaways

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Life after Manumission

• lingering servitude
• Increased workforce
• Prominent artisans
• Domestic workers
• Merchants and shop owners
• Militia
• Forced to pay tribute

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Life cont

• Little difference between free and slaves
• Freed slaves lived generally as did the rest of
  the population
• Prone to being brought before the inquisition.
• Integrated into society and lost their visibility.