Week 3—History of Latin America
Africans in Colonial Latin America
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I. The Iberian slave tradition

A. In medieval Iberia,

- not exclusively African
- domestic slaves, artisans; 10-15% of Lisbon pop. in 1630
- African cofradias

B. 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 Azores

B. 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 America

D. 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

IV. The Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804

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

V. 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)