Week 3—History of Latin America
Africans in Colonial Latin America
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The African Experience in LA
I. The Iberian slave tradition
A. In medieval Iberia,
- not exclusively African
- domestic slaves, artisans; 10-15% of Lisbon pop. in 1630
- African cofradiasB. In the colonial Americas,
- conquistadors (Pizarro's and Cortés's armies), urban slaves, artisans
- Peru: 1550s, 3k slaves ; 1650s, 100k or 10-15% of pop.
- Mexico: 1550s, 20k slaves; 1650s, 35k slaves + 100k free blacks
- manumission; artisans; cofradias (St. Benedict the Moor)
- Brazil in 16c
II. The Plantation Complex
A. Origins: Portuguese sugar plantations, 15c
- Cape Verde
- the AzoresB. Defined by:
- size
- African slave labor
- capitalist agriculture + feudal relations
- high mortality rate
C. The Atlantic Slave Trade, 1450-1880
- 10+ million, 30-50% mortality (15-20% mortality during Middle Passage)
3.8 million to Brazil
2.2 million to British/Dutch colonies (4.4% U.S.)
1.7 million to the French Caribbean
1.5 million to Spanish AmericaD. The Plantation Regime
- Haiti: The Black Code (1685)
Mortality rate 50% in first 8 yrs
30%+ of world's sugar supply in 1780s- Brazil: smaller plantations
Enghenos
Lavradores de cana
Free blacks = 50% of pop. in northeast
III. Resistance to Plantation Slavery
- Suicide/poison plots
- Escape: marronage (maroons)Mexico , Cuba , Colombia : palenques
Brazil : quilombos or macombos
Venezuela : cumbe- Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804
IV. Cultural and Social Effects
A. Demographic effects
- Barbados in 1645:
Tobacco
37,000 whites and 5,700 slaves
60% of whites were property owners- Barbados in 1685:
Sugar
17,000 whites and 50,000 slaves
Most property owned by the few- Jamaica 1730s-80s: 10:1 ratio black/white
- Haiti 1780s: 460,000 slaves
- Cuba mid-19c: 40% + of world sugar
B. Religious and cultural effects
- Music
cumbia (Colombia)
son (Cuba)
lando (Peru)
samba (Brazil)- Religion
candomblé & umbanda (Brazil)
santería/orisha (Cuba)
vodou (Haiti)
The Haitian Revolution
Hispaniola = French Saint Domingue + Spanish Santo Domingo
- Slaves vs. "gens de couleur"
- Outside influences:
American Revolution (1776) Enlightenment
French Revolution (1789)
Société des Amis des Noirs- 1791, slaves revolt
Boukman
Toussaint Louverture- 1793, French Republic abolishes slavery
Léger Félicité Sonthonax
- 1802, Napoleon invades, reinstates slavery
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
- Jan. 1, 1804 : Haiti declares itself a free nation