“Anhelos de libertad. Familias afromestizas en
San Juan de la
Frontera. (Argentina- 1750-1800)”*
Ana Laura Donoso Ríos[1]
Universidad
Nacional de San Juan.
Reception:
24/05/2015
Evaluation:
22/06/2015
Approval:
28/10/2015
Research and
Innovation Article
Resumen.
En la sociedad colonial adquirir la condición jurídica
de libre era para el esclavo uno de los primeros pasos en los intentos de
movilidad social. En estos procesos la familia jugó un papel fundamental siendo
un punto de apoyo, de cooperación y solidaridad entre sus integrantes. El presente
artículo aborda la realidad de tres familias de esclavos en la ciudad de San
Juan (Argentina) durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII, en sus intentos,
estrategias y recursos para alcanzar la libertad de sus miembros. A partir de
documentación notarial (cartas de libertad, testamentos, poderes) y documentación
parroquial se reconstruye el camino recorrido por estas familias en sus anhelos
de libertad. En los procesos de liberación observados se pone en evidencia diferentes
decisiones de las familias esclavas a la hora de liberar a sus miembros en conexión
estrecha, entre otras circunstancias, a la relación con sus amos y la capacidad
de la familia para reunir los recursos económicos necesarios para el pago.
Palabras
claves: familia, esclavitud, libertad, estrategias, relación amo/esclavo.
Longing for freedom. Afro-Mestizo families from San
Juan de la Frontera. (Argentina- 1750-1800)
Abstract.
For a slave,
acquiring the legal condition of freedom was one of the first steps in an
attempt at social mobility in a colonial society. In these processes, the
family played an important role by supporting, cooperating with and caring for
its members. This article addresses the reality of three slave families from
the city of San Juan (Argentina) during the second half of the 18th
century. The efforts, strategies and resources used by these families to achieve
freedom for their members are presented in this paper. Based on notarial
documents (letter of freedom, wills, notarial certificates) as well as
parochial documents, this study reconstructs the path taken by these families
in their longing for freedom. In the processes of freedom observed here,
evidence is presented of the relevance of certain factors related to the
decisions of the families when freeing one of their members, such as the
slave-master relationship, or their ability to gather enough economic resources
for the payment.
Key Words: Family, slavery, freedom, strategies, master/slave
relationship.
Désirs de liberté. Familles esclaves à San Juan de la
Frontera. (Argentine, 1750-1800)
Résumé.
Pour l’esclave dans la société
coloniale acquérir le statut juridique de libre était l’un des premiers pas de
la mobilité sociale. Dans ces processus, la famille a joué un rôle fondamental
en tant que mécanisme de coopération et solidarité. Cet article étudie le cas
de trois familles d’esclaves dans la cité de San Juan (Argentine) pendant la
seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle, à travers leurs tentatives, stratégies et ressources
pour obtenir la liberté de leurs membres. À partir de documentation notariale
(lettres de liberté, testaments, procurations) mais aussi de documentation
paroissiale on y reconstruit le chemin parcouru par ces familles dans leurs
désirs de liberté. Les cas d’affranchissement analysés mettent en évidence
l’étroite connexion qui a existé entre les différentes décisions des familles
esclaves qui cherchaient à libérer leurs membres, avec des circonstances
diverses comme leur rapport avec les maîtres et leur de réunir les ressources
économiques nécessaires pour le paiement.
Mots-clés: Famille, esclavage, liberté, stratégies, relation
maître/esclave.
1. By way of
presentation
During recent decades in Latin America, there has been
a proliferation of studies that address the history of its African populations
and their descendants. These studies recover various aspects of their cultures
and social practices, proclaiming the African contribution to Latin American
cultures and identities[2].
In all of these, the starting point is to conceive of the slaves as dynamic
agents in historical development, active subjects who were not held down by
their condition, who acted based on their interests and needs, and who
responded creatively to adversity by finding alternative ways around the
impositions of their masters[3].
Currently in Argentina, the volume of studies related to these populations is significant[4]. However, they mainly refer to Buenos Aires, hence the importance of completing research in other colonial locations such as the city of San Juan, where the present study is centered.
In
particular, the study of the history of slave families has shown, among other
things, that even in the harsh conditions of large plantations and despite the
difficulties imposed upon legal unions, slaves created families, many married,
acquired significant material goods, could have access to land for cultivation
and a differentiated family home[5].
Regardless of geographic contexts, the family always
presents itself as a space for the individual development of its members, a
resource for adaptation, a point of support, cooperation and solidarity among
its members. These elements are essential for any advancement or attempt at
social mobility[6].
Acquiring the status of freedom meant for slaves one of the first steps in an
attempt at social mobility and a condition of maintaining the family unit,
affected as they were by the constant possibility of a change of masters, be it
by inheritance, donation or sale.
The present study focuses on the
families-slavery-freedom axes in order to investigate how the Afro-Mestizo
families acted in the city of San Juan, Argentina, during the second half of
the 18th century, in the attempt to acquire freedom for its members.
In this way, we are interested in approaching the attempts, strategies and
resources, as well as the experiences and social practices of these families
around the search for the freedom of its members.
As
Mónica Ghirardi understands, "penetrating the family scenario involves entering
the domain of subjectivity, in the intimate world of the actors' decisions, of
their strategies of action. In that sense, the family territory constitutes a
privileged area of observation where persistence and social changes,
traditions, traits of continuity and innovations are intertwined[7].”
Likewise,
the study of the slave manumission in Hispano-America[8]
is allowing a more objective understanding of the nature of slavery[9],
so that investigating the problem raised, contributes elements to the understanding
of the relations of power that existed between masters and slaves in the
particular situation of seeking the freedom of their relatives. We approach, in
turn, both the implementation of strategies, conscious or not, and the use of
economic resources by slave and Afro-Mestizo families to achieve this aim. In
this sense, it is necessary to point out that the cases analyzed in the work do
not allow the generalization of behaviors in Afro families, but certainly bring
us closer to the experiences of these social actors, that is, how those
families lived and acted in order to liberate themselves, or their descendants,
from the yoke of slavery.
During
the period studied the slaves acquired freedom by one of two ways, paying the
masters their value[10],
or, by the voluntary granting of freedom by their owners, known as gracious
manumission. These processes were recorded in wills and letters of freedom,
making them the main sources for the study. The search for freedom also led to
clashes between masters and families of slaves, which were recorded in
"powers" representing litigants in lawsuits and trial documents[11].
The
sources used in this study are found in the Archive of the Judiciary of the Province
of San Juan[12].
This file has great importance as it keeps the documentation that the judicial
activity in the province generates and contains documents that date from the 18th
century onwards. The documents used are contained in Notarial Protocols[13];
consisting of, as we said, wills, letters of freedom and powers.
The
wills of the masters are relevant insofar as they provide information on the
fate of members of a slave family, when the division of property was effected
by the death of the masters. For their part, they provide elements to aid in understanding
the decisions and motives that masters had for freeing their slaves. Likewise,
the wills of members of the Afro-Mestizo families are useful because they
contribute to unveiling the strategies and resources used to achieve the
freedom of their members. Letters of freedom are a valuable source for being
the legal document supporting the act of manumission, while the powers
representing litigants in legal disputes for obtaining the freedom of slaves
are valuable as they enrich our knowledge about the processes of manumission
and the relations of domination.
The
parochial and ecclesiastical archives, on the other hand, are fundamental to
the undertaking of studies on families. In the province of San Juan, the
parochial registers began as from 1665, almost a century after the foundation
of the city. The Main Church of the city of San Juan de la Frontera was, at
first, the Church of Santa Ana and in 1775 moved to the Church of San José[14].
The Church of Santa Ana continued with its actions as a vice-parish, so that at
the end of the eighteenth century these two churches fulfilled the work of
recording the sacraments of faith[15].
The
books of both churches - Santa Ana and San José - are currently in the Parish
of La Merced. The archive of this institution contains Books of Baptisms of
Spaniards and Books of Baptisms of Non-Spaniards, Books of Marriages and Books
of Deaths. In the middle of the eighteenth century the custom of dividing the
books by race was modified and since then all the ethnic groups were put together,
by sacrament[16].
At the moment, a consultation of the Parish of la Merced Archive can only be
made through the internet, from the microfilming work carried out by the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[17].
One
of the obstacles to rebuilding slave and Afro-Mestizo families in the processes
of freedom is that, as part of the lowest social sectors of colonial society,
their activities were not recorded in the same way as those of the elites with
higher purchasing power. This means, for example, that they did not use
judicial tools such as wills in the same way as wealthy families. Another
difficulty in these investigations is related to the usual fact that slaves
appear in several sources with only their first name. Also, slave surnames
undergo several changes between different documents, a situation derived from
the custom of transferring the surname of master to slave, the reason why they changed
it when they changed owner by sale, donation, swaps, etc. This difficulty can
be solved by the formation of a master and slave register, which allows the
slaves and their owners to be identified each year, as well as successive
changes of master by sale, donation, mortgage, etc. [18].
2. San Juan de la Frontera and the population of African descent
As is shown in the following map of the Argentinian territory, the province of San Juan is located in the center-west of the country, at the foot of the Andes mountain range. Its geography is characterized by mountains and valleys, where water scarcity and aridity predominate. For this reason, human occupation has been feasible in valleys irrigated by rivers fed by mountain snowmelts, which have required the implementation of water controls for their use[19]. That is why it is more appropriate to speak of irrigation oases, the most important being the Tulum Valley where the city of San Juan de la Frontera was founded in 1562[20], now the provincial capital.
Figure 1: Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. Location of the
province of San Juan- Argentina.
A marginal
zone of the Spanish Empire in America, its economy was basically agrarian,
dedicated to the production of vines for the elaboration of wine and
aguardiente, complementing this activity with the exploitation of mines and the
rearing of cattle[21].
In its irrigation oases, a small property of reduced extension around its
foundational center - of 1 or 2 blocks - predominated and more extensive in
distant valleys like Calingasta or Jáchal[22].
The map of the province of San Juan represents the valleys
and oases where the population was concentrated in colonial times. Number 1
refers to the Tulum Valley, which, as was mentioned, was the most important as
it was there that the city of San Juan sat.
Figure 2: Location of the valleys where the populations of San
Juan were established.
The region constituted a transit zone in the colonial
economic system, with caravans passing through its territory, which from Buenos
Aires, Santa Fe or Cordova were directed as often towards Chile as to Alto
Perú[23]. These troops carried local products and merchandise,
usually smuggled in, including slaves[24].
Like
the other regions of the Río de la Plata, slavery in these lands was
essentially domestic, destined for agricultural, livestock or handicraft work[25].
The slaves were distributed among the properties of the masters in the urban
center and in the different rural haciendas located in the distant valleys.
Some stories contained in criminal cases suggest this reality[26].
The
vital records of the city give an account of the presence of black Africans as
from the mid-seventeenth century, when the parish books of Baptisms, Marriages
and Deaths were initiated. The African and Afro-Mestizo population at the end
of 18th century, according to the data contributed by the census of
1777, was not negligible. As shown in the graph, of the 6,481 inhabitants
counted in the city and its surrounds, 37% were Spanish, 44% were mestizos,
only 3% were natives, and the remaining 16% were black and mulattos, which
demonstrates the importance of the Afro component in San Juan society[27].
Figure 3: Ethnic composition of the
population. San Juan, 1777.
Spanish Mestizo Mulatto Black Native
Source: Ana Fanchin
“Familia y redes sociales en San Juan (siglos XVII- XVIII)”
(Doctoral Thesis -Unpublished-,
UNCUYO; 2013), 84.
Among
the Afro-descendant population, mulattos made up 78% of the population, while
black Africans accounted for the remaining 22%[28].
These numbers tell us about the growth in Creole slaves and intense racial mixing,
a phenomenon common in Latin America in the late eighteenth century[29].
Thus,
in the records of the time it is shown to be a common practice among Africans
to couple with white and indigenous people or with their various mixes[30],
which engendered a significant mulatto and mestizo population, which with the
passage of time lost its physical characteristics. Everyday life and the proximity
that the different ethnic groups shared in their daily work and places of
recreation made racial mixing a generalized phenomenon[31].
Thus,
in the city of San Juan in the middle of the eighteenth century the custom of
dividing the books of the sacraments by race was modified and since then all
the ethnic groups began to be put together. The patterns that determined the
social and economic ascription of individuals began to become more flexible and
slowly the classification by ethnicity[32]
began to lose strength, giving way to socioeconomic status as the priority[33].
The complexity of the phenomenon of racial mixing in Hispano-America,
demonstrated the impossibility of practicing the "caste system"
intended by the crown.
On
the other hand, this racial mix played an important role in the formation of a
free mulatto population that grew up in Hispano-America at the end of the
colony, equaling or surpassing the slaves in some regions[34].
However, the legal status that prevailed in the city of San Juan at the end of
the eighteenth century was that of slave, against a minority of 11% free men.
Within this free fraction, women constituted a higher percentage than men[35].
II. Slave and Afro-mestizo families in the city of San Juan.
From
the earliest colonial times, the state and the Church imposed the norms
concerning marriage and the "legitimate unions" of Western culture,
considering all practices that contradicted it to be a sin and a crime. Thus,
the family forms and customs related to marital union practiced by Native
Americans or black Africans, clashed with the vision of family and marriage
that the Catholic Church was trying to impose. Despite their attempts,
interracial marriages, illicit relationships, concubinage, and children born
out of wedlock were phenomena that crossed all social classes in Hispano-America[36].
As author Ana Fanchin points out, the high rates of illegitimacy denote the
complexity of family systems in the colony. In San Juan, as in other colonial
spheres, the significant number of consensual unions evidenced that the origin
of a family was not precisely the conjugal union confirmed by the sacrament.
In the particular case of the slave or Afro-Mestizo families of San Juan, it is observed among the sources, the unions legitimized by the church, whether it was between slaves, or slaves and free men[37] and, on the other hand, a situation that is observed more frequently: consensual unions. This type of union between slaves, or slaves and free men, was the reason that more than 50% of children of African descent born in the mid-eighteenth century were noted in the parish registers as "natural", that is, extramarital[38].
With
regard to marriages, the norms granted this right to slaves, but with certain
restrictions, since they had to do so with the consent of their owners, who
agreed to distribute the offspring in the case that they were from different
masters, which did not facilitate the consolidation of the institution of marriage[39].
The constitution of slave families from legitimate marriages was undoubtedly
not an easy task and depended, among other factors, on the consent of the
masters. This condition generated contradictions between what the royal and
church norms established, with the interests of the masters. For example,
although the law gave them the right to marry and once married, masters could
not sell the couple separately, in practice it was not always respected[40].
Thus, it was with the marriage formed by Manuel Domingo and Rita, slaves of the
Presbyterian priest Don Joseph de Morales and of Don Cornelio Albarracín, who
were separated, since this last one granted the power to sell Rita[41]
to Don Bernardo Mallea, a neighbor from the city of Salta.
When
referring to the impediments to marriage for people of African origin,
Florencia Guzmán highlights the fact that besides the acceptance of the master,
the ecclesiastical legislation itself referred to parochial expenses or a need
for "information, since they were an economic hindrance for the spouses[42].”
In the city of San Juan, the participation of people of color in the marriage
market was scarce in comparison to that of the Spaniards. Freed blacks and
mulattos preferred to marry free people, even though they were of different
ethnicities; while the slave population tended to marry with people of color of
the same legal status. Undoubtedly, the decision to marry for free men and
slaves was not the same, because as we said, the latter were conditioned by the
provisions and mandates of their masters; however, the participation of free
colored people was also limited[43].
Nevertheless,
and with a certain number of obstacles, the sources indicate that the slaves
who formed marriages considered legitimate by the ecclesiastical norms, had
children, acquired significant assets, such as land or animals and fulfilled
their aspirations to free the members of their families.
Slave and Afro-Mestizo families: the long road to freedom.
In the period studied, slaves acquired the legal status of freedmen - a free person - through two important paths, by the will of their masters, what is known as gracious manumission and by purchasing their freedom by themselves, their relatives or kin, which is known as coarctation[44].
The
desire of slaves and their partners to maintain family unity and to give their
children a legal status different from that of their own, can be seen in the
strategies developed in order to buy their children's freedom. To achieve such a
purpose would undoubtedly entail a daily effort by the family to collect both
the necessary money and the consent of their masters.
As
the status of slave was passed from mother to son, it is presumed that black
and mulatto slave women played an important role in the arbitration of the
resources needed to free their progeny[45].
Some managed to achieve freedom for their children, but many others had to leave
their little ones in the hands of other owners for sale, inheritance or
donation[46].
In
these terms, freedom must have been an ever-present desire in the lives of
slaves, as in their womb they saw the perpetuation of their condition. Surely
slaves spent much of their lives struggling to raise the money they needed to
help themselves or their children, but rarely could they do so[47].
Nevertheless,
some families achieved their task with the release of one or several of their
members, such as the marriage formed by Felis Salsedo and Anastacia, the slave
of Brother Phelipe Allende - son of the late Don Jose Antonio Allende. The
marriage produced five children, Juan Jose, Mariana[48],
Mercedes, Eusebio and Damián, who by inheriting the condition of their mother
were distributed between the beneficiaries of the late Don Jose Antonio Allende[49].
Although the division of property after the death of Don Allende was not found,
from other documents we know that Anastacia with her children Mariana and
little Damián became part of the estate of Phelipe Allende, while Juan José and
Eusebio[50]
were awarded to the cleric Cayetano Allende, bothvchildren of Don Antonio.
Early in
1795, Felis Salcedo and the slave Anastacia had their youngest son Damian. In
January 1796, Felis paid Friar Phelipe Allende the value of the liberty of his
ten-month-old son Damian, his daughter Mariana, and his granddaughter - the daughter
of Mariana and also only months old -named Theresa[51].
Thus, Felis paid the religious man 330 pesos for the recovery of his children
and granddaughter, three hundred for Mariana and her child Theresa and thirty
pesos for the little Damian. From Felis' will, written in 1796, we know that
the couple also bought the liberty of their son Juan José, since the father of
the family declared that years before he had paid his owner, the cleric Don
Cayetano Allende, the amount of 60 pesos to rescue him from slavery[52].
In
this way, the family managed to rescue four of its members, three children of
the marriage - Juan Jose, Mariana and Damián - and a granddaughter - Teresa –
from slavery. The father of the family was a master carpenter and thanks to
this profession he was able to raise the money to free his descendants, as well
as buy a piece of land in a "notable part of the city." The family
decided to buy the freedom of their children and even their granddaughter,
before freeing their mother. The reason is perhaps because the price of the
children increased as they grew, making it even harder to raise the necessary
money. Thus, in 1796, freeing his son Damian of ten months, cost his parents 30
pesos, while for his daughter Mariana - 22 years old and of childbearing age -
plus her little baby, they paid 300 pesos[53].
For their part, the fate of child slaves was somewhat more uncertain than that
of their mothers, as often the masters decided to sell them to cover debts,
rather than losing a womb that could give them more slaves in the future. This
fact perhaps made slave women prefer to free their offspring rather than
themselves.
Another
was the path chosen by the couple formed by Mathias Lucero and Francisca Abila,
the slave of Don Juan Álvarez de Miranda. The couple had three children, Theodoro,
Juan Bernardo[54]
and María, of which the two boys were slaves because of Francisca's condition
when giving birth to them, which is why they were under Don Juan's power. In
his will written in July 1765, Mathias said that his wife was free by then,
since they had managed to purchase her freedom thanks to the work of both,
which allowed them to gather the sum of 400 pesos that her release cost[55].
Although we do not know exactly the year in which Francisca was released, we
know that it was after the birth of her second son Juan Bernardo, in 1743.
In
his will, Mathias declared, in addition to the property where the family lived,
a plot of land with vineyards and trees and he expressed his willingness that
this be sold after his death, both for the payment of the funeral, and to buy
the liberty of his children. As can be seen, the path that this family took was
to first liberate the mother, which is why the last daughter of the marriage
was born free. Surely this longing for freedom existed as from their marriage,
but because of the years it took to gather the necessary money, they achieved
the goal when their children Theodoro and Juan Bernardo had been born, which is
why they inherited the legal status of their mother. However, the parents'
desire to free their children and thus achieve family unity – being at risk
from the possibility of sale or donation - is clear in the writing of Mathias'
will.
In
the processes of liberation, economic, social and affective interests coexisted
for both masters and slaves[56].
Here, relations of power and domination are seen as from a particular situation,
the pursuit of freedom. It is noted in the sources that counting on the consent
of the masters was frequently one of the greatest obstacles to freedom. Without
doubt, most of the private conflicts between masters and slaves did not reach the
judicial apparatus, as they were resolved behind closed doors[57].
In April of 1767, after the death of Mathias, his wife, Francisca Abila,
together with their sons Theodoro and Juan Bernardo gave the power to Hilario
Sisternas, lawyer of the Royal Audiencia
of Chile, to attend to his civil and criminal cases. In particular, they
granted the power to represent them in the case against Sergeant Major Don Juan
Alvarez de Miranda, for the hereditary deed for the property left to them by
the death of Mathias Lucero and for the freedom of Theodore and Juan Bernardo[58].
Although
we do not have the documents of this trial, and therefore we do not know its
development and outcome, the fact that this power exists, shows us the
resources that were used by Afro-Mestizo families in order to rescue their
members from slavery. Bearing in mind that the movable and immovable property
declared by Mathias in his will were probably insufficient to pay for his
children's freedom[59]
- even more so after paying the funeral expenses and some debts - Francisca may
have sought through a judicial order that Juan Álvarez de Miranda, agree to
assess and guarantee the freedom of Theodore and Juan Bernardo so as to settle
various payments. In any case, the search for a judicial solution to the
freedom of the children indicates that the relationship with the masters could
be one of the greatest obstacles to getting out of slavery.
On
the contrary, in other circumstances, relations with the masters were favorable
for the Afro-Mestizo families in the quest for freedom. The marriage formed by
Antonio Irrutia[60]
and Petrona[61], the slave of Dona Juana Iñon[62],
produced six children[63],
Pedro Pablo, Maria Visencia, Jose Andrés, Josef Isidro, Jose de la Cruz and
Fermina. In 1790 Dona Juana Iñon wrote her will[64],
by which we know that Petrona was adjudged to her by her parents' inheritance,
apparently when the slave girl had already married and her first son, Pedro
Pablo, was born, who, because of the division of the inheritance, fell into the
hands of Juana’s sister, Doña Maria del Carmen Iñon[65].
In
her will, Doña Juana granted liberty, after her death, to her slave Petrona,
who at the time was twenty-five years old. In turn, she gave her a piece of
land from her property where she had built her ranch and lived with her husband
Antonio, in a state of freedom. The requirement that this should be fulfilled
was for the slave to serve "as much as possible" the siblings of Doña
Juana-Don Santiago, Don Javier and Doña Maria del Carmen-throughout her life,
for which, she should “stay forever in that house”. For her part, the lady also
awarded three muscatel vines to the couple, with the charge that their value
and worth be invested in masses to the benefit of her soul[66].
Of
course, so much "benevolence" on the part of her mistress was the
retribution of many favors. Petrona had lavished her care on her and had paid for her maintenance, counting on
the help of her husband[67].
Thus, Doña Juana expressed in her will, the agreement previously reached with
Antonio, to release his five-year-old daughter Vicensia[68],
for the amount of 90 pesos. For which, "it is her will that the above
mentioned be fulfilled, as to this account he has already paid me 35p 6r, and for the rest he will not
be squeezed because (...) he will deliver the rest as he can and work allows
him[69].”
That
is to say, Doña Juana informed her heirs of the agreement with Antonio concerning
the purchase of his daughter's freedom and demanded its fulfillment. This
family, thanks to the relationship that existed with Petronas owner, could
begin to pay for the freedom of their daughter in various payments. Although we
do not know the true destiny of Vicensia, and whether their parents managed to
liberate her, their decision reveals the attitudes and strategies faced by the
slave families, conditioned largely by the particular situation of each one. In
this case, the couple decided to start paying for their daughter's freedom,
perhaps already with a promise from Doña Juana to release her faithful slave
Petrona.
On
the other hand, in 1795 Doña María del Carmen Iñon, the owner of 16-year-old
Pedro Pablo, son of Antonio and Petrona - referring to the same, stated before a
notary that:
[…]for serving her with
total loyalty, for the merit of his parents and for other just motives that
impel her, has determined to manumit him upon her death […] she grants that by
then to give and concede full freedom to the aforementioned Pedro Pablo, her
slave with the conditions and quality that during her life has to assist and
maintain her with what he can and achieve his work and task as a carpenter, who
has been instructed and then ordered him to say 50 Masses prayed for the
benefit of her soul[…][70].
The
relationship that this family had with their masters allowed them to buy the
freedom of little Vicensia in various payments, as well as the promise of the freedom
of Petrona and her son Pedro Pablo, after the death of their owners. However,
the situation of the Afro-Mestiza family reveals, in turn, the reality of
slavery where, even after being released, the former slaves were still tethered
to others by bonds of servitude. Petrona could be free, but she had to serve
the heirs of her mistress throughout her life, she had the small piece of land
given them by her patron, but she could not sell it and move, as she had to
reside on this property. The couple received a donation of muscatel vines, but
their value had to be used in masses for the salvation of the soul her late
mistress. That is to say that Petrona was forced to procure the wellbeing of
her mistress even after her death, this time, striving for the salvation of her
soul.
In
this way, the "gracious manumission" granted by masters was subject
to the fulfillment of various requirements on the part of the beneficiary,
which, if they did not fulfill, would then lose their freedom.
In
this regard, Blanca de Lima understands that "more than affection, last minute
charities and discharges of conscience, the massive conditionality of these
freedoms was actually an element of coercion, where the master took advantage
of his status so as to impose clauses upon the freed that rendered the supposed
freedom granted, illusory or partial[71].”
Conclusions:
The
significant number of consensual unions in this geographical space indicates
that the origin of a family was not the conjugal union confirmed by the
sacrament. Families did not follow the western model that was imposed by the
norms. The practices of the different social sectors in relation to marital
unions, shows us that individuals tried to adapt to the particular realities
which they lived. It is thus that slaves formed families within their
particular situation of subjection to other people.
The
constitution of slave families under Spanish norms could not have been an easy
task, for there were various difficulties and impediments, such as the master's
opposition to formalizing the union, or the economic obstacle represented by
the church and its procedures. For its part, keeping slave families together
was a challenge for its members, because the possibility of dispersion by sale
or donation was a daily reality. Thus, it was common for children to be
separated from their mothers, even at a young age. In this context, freedom was
undoubtedly a longing always present in the slaves, because in their womb they
saw the perpetuation of their condition.
When attempting to buy the freedom of a family member,
a number of factors related to the particular group were put into play, such as
the number of children, their age and price; implying the ability of the family
to collect the money and receive the consent of the masters. The cases taken
here reveal different strategies, different paths traveled by these families in
their longing for freedom, all are valid, all express the desire for family
unity. First of all, freeing the mother so that the next children should be
free or, instead, releasing the little children to prevent their monetary value
from growing and making it impossible to pay. The fact that the fate of child
slaves was somehow more uncertain than that of their mothers may have
influenced the families to decide to release them first. On the other hand, the
high infant mortality rate made it a "profitable" sale for the
masters, to get rid of the infants at a young age, charging their parents
freedom, which is why it was perhaps easier for the slaves to buy the freedom
of young children.
The
search for freedom speaks of the need to reconstruct the particularities of the
context, the daily relations between these actors that defined the images of
"masters" and "slaves" constructed by each group. The
testimonies collected here reveal the daily efforts of slave families to free their
members from bondage. In the wills in which slaves are freed, expressions such as
the following predominate: "having served with loyalty", “noting the
love and fidelity with which he has served me." We find in them, not
evidence of the submission of slaves to their masters, but real strategies
aimed at achieving a purpose: having a good relationship with your masters to
earn their esteem, and perhaps gaining freedom from among the benefits.
Certainly,
for slaves to buy freedom for themselves and their families was sometimes
simple and sometimes not so much. Resorting to the law to intervene in the process
of liberation by purchase, shows that relations between masters and slaves restricted
access to freedom for the latter and their families. On the other hand, these
passages also give an account of the knowledge that the slaves had of the norms
and of their rights in relation to the purchase of their freedom.
In
these struggles to achieve freedom, women as well as their husbands,
contributed their daily efforts to raise the necessary money for this objective.
Thus, the case of Petrona who supported her impoverished mistress with her
labor, or Francisca, who worked with her husband to collect the money with which
she was liberated, shows us the ability of black and mulatto slaves to gather
money from their labors.
The
analysis of the sources, on the other hand, shows us the precariousness of the
situation of freedom that the slaves acquired by the will of their masters,
since being conditioned to certain requirements, the possibility of being
re-enslaved remained. It also reveals to us the reality of slavery, where even
after being released the former slaves were still tied to others by bonds of
servitude. Thus, among the sources, there are several indications that, in the
eyes of the masters, slaves continued to signify patrimonial property for them,
even when they recorded in their wills the fidelity with which the servants had
attended to them.
In
relation to the slaves, recovering these passages about their existence
distances us from the image of submissive servants, subject to the dictates of
their masters, passive victims of this regime. In turn, it gives them back the
role of protagonists, makers of their existence, individuals who fought to
change their living conditions. In this way, as Carlos Aguirre[72]
suggests, studying the phenomena of slave manumission sheds light on the ways
in which slaves could influence not only their individual destiny but also the
society that sheltered them as subjects of domination.
Documentary Sources
Archivo de la Corte de
Justicia-Provincia de San Juan
Registros Notariales
Protocolo Juan
Sebastián de Castro, Años: 1749, 1750,
1752, 1753, 1755, 1756, 1757, 1761,
1765, 1767, 1773, 1774, 1777, 1782, 1783, 1785.
José Navarro,
Años: 1789, 1790, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1796-1797,
Protocolo Juan
Ventura Morón. Años: 1798, 1799.
Archivo Parroquial Nuestra Señora de la
Merced-Provincia de San Juan
Libros de Bautismos: Consultados
a través de la colección de micropelículas del archivo de los
mormones Rollo nº 1110805; 110806; 110807; 110808.
Family
Search, Registros Históricos, Argentina Bautismos 1645-1930 https://ffamilysearch.org/search/collection/1520570
(Fecha de consulta: 10 de septiembre de 2015)
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To cite this
article:
Ana
Laura Donoso Ríos, “Longing for freedom. Afro-Mestizo families from San Juan de la Frontera. (Argentina-
1750-1800)” Historia y Memoria Issue 12 (January-June,
2016).