• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• “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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

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

• 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

• 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.

• 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
• Didn’t know the land

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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`

• 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

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

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

• 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

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

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

• 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.