Race in Colonial Latin America

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Race in Colonial Latin America
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Question to Consider

• How was race constructed during the Colonial
  period?

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The Peopling of Latin America

• Heterogeneous
• Indian
• European
• African
• Asian

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Racial Mixing

• High Degree of Racial Mixing
• Castas
• 25 by 18th Century
• Blurring of Racial Groups
• Physical Characteristics
• One Drop Rule
• Passing

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Basic Castas

• Mestizo (Indian European)
• Mulatto (African European)
• Zambo (Indian African)

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Mexico in 1793

• 8,000 Europeans
• 700,00 Criollos
• 6,000 Blacks
• 360,000 Mulatos
• 2,300,000 Indians
• 1,000,000 Acculturated
• 100,000 Asians

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Restrictions

• Not allowed to live in Indian neighborhoods
• Denied posts
• Sumptuary Legislation
• (cloths jewelry)

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Breakdown of Racial Barriers

• Less residential segregation
• Intermarriage
• Occupation/Education more important than race
• Certificate of Whiteness

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Conclusions

• Racial Ambiguity
• High Degree of Mobility
• Money Education
• Example of rich Mestizos and Mulatos
• Loss of Control (Spanish Authorities)

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18th Century Casta Paintings

• NPR Inventing Race Through Art
  http//www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story
  Id3043790

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Questions to Consider

• What do the images reveal about attitudes toward
  racial mixing and the different castas?
• How would you compare the attitudes expressed in
  the primary documents versus those depicted in
  the casta paintings?

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Spaniard and an Indian Produces a Mestizo
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Spaniard and a Mestizo Produces Castiza
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Spaniard and a Castiza Produces a Spaniard
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Mestizo and an Indian Produces a Coyote
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An African and a Spaniard Produces a Mulatto
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A Mulatto and a Spaniard Produces a Marisco
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A Spaniard and a Marisca Produces a Albino
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A Spaniard and an Albina Produces a Black-
Return-Backwards
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A Black and an Indian Produces a Wolf
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A Black and an Indian Produces a Zambaiga
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A Zambaiga and an Indian Produces an Albarazado
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An Indian and an Albaradazdo Produces a Chamizo
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A Chamizo and an Indian Produces a Cambuja
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An Albarrado and an Indian Produces a Cachimboreta
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An Indian and a Cambuja Produces a
Wolf-Return-Backwards
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A Wolf-Return-Backwards and an Indian Produces a
Hold-Yourself-in-Mid-Air
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18th Century Casta Paintings

• Reaffirmed the Importance of Racial Heritage
• Subcategories of Castas
• Details of Everyday Life
• People at Various Social Levels
• Material Culture

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Conclusions

• Spaniards preside over society
• Spaniards possessors of culture
• Ambiguity/Inconsistency in racial markers
• More racial mixing, status declines
• Spanish blood redeemable, black not
• Underscore colonys wealth

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Post-Independence

• Lessening of Racial Barriers
• Indigenous Peoples Increasingly Celebrated
• Europeanized
• Romanticized
• Casta Designations Banned
• Equality Before the Law