Colonial Latin American Slavery

Spaniards brought Africans to the New World at the very beginning of the Spanish conquest. Spanish influence determined Africans' social aptitude, acculturated them, and manipulated their role to serve Spanish needs for production. Despite Spanish dominance, Africans were able to retain some resemblance of their own cultural distinction, and acted independently against Spanish interests. Africans roles evolved as the Spanish faced problems of satisfying high labor demands and maintaining control over a population much larger than their own. Initially, Africans played a military and socio-political part in the Spanish conquest; however, more significantly, Africans provided Spanish colonialism with a capable labor foundation and a safeguard between the Spanish minority and the natives. Although African and Afro-Latino roles did not always support Spanish aims or ideals, they were vital to the Spanish capacity to manage a populace much larger than their own and yield from their colonies.

Must all slaves work in the fields?

Enslaved and free Africans fulfilled the role of a military supplementary in the Spanish conquest. Slaves could achieve their freedom through involvement in Spanish conquest. Juan Garrido did just that in accordance with Cortes. Garrido was a black slave who fought with Cortes in opposition to the Aztecs to gain his independence. Escaped slaves often joined conquistadors without comprehensive examination into their background. Free blacks also commonly participated in the conquest, and some enjoyed elevated status.

Africans served Spanish endeavors, but they also had something to achieve for themselves. In spite of that many Africans were only viewed as slaves. Within that, even free blacks were inferior to Spaniards, but they were higher to natives in that they had authority and were rewarded for killing and conquering them. Natives viewed them as "black white men," because these Africans "had been born in or had lived many years in Spain." They were mostly culturally, linguistically, and religiously Spanish. Africans, during the conquest were very much a part of the Spanish world. The black conquistadors had modest impact on the Spanish achievement relative to indigenous alliances, technological advantages, and disease, but the role of Africans came to play a far more meaningful part in Spanish colonization.

In mainland Spanish colonies, Africans supervised resident labor, mainly in the silver mines, and collected tribute from indigenous populations. In coalition with conquistadors, they served in military expeditions to appease conquered natives. They were a shared liaison between Spaniards and natives. Unfortunately, for the Africans, "the exercise of unprecedented power by Spaniards and their black auxiliaries over defeated Indians led to accusations of abuse." Prejudiced Spanish authorities blamed the Africans and passed legislation that helped to legally define African social inferiority and restrictions. This, combined with increasingly cheaper African slave labor and a growing demand for it, changed African labor roles in Spanish colonies.

Unintended results of Spanish conquest determined the role of Africans as an indispensable resource of labor. Through violence, cruel labor demands, and especially disease, the Spanish conquest resulted in the ultimate decrease of an immense majority of the native labor resource. Spaniards, having no intention of working themselves, supplanted their labor source by importing massive numbers of slaves directly from Africa. This resulted in the formation of a large mixed, or casta, population that required social definition. Spaniards usually defined social order in terms of ethnicity. Consequently, Africans and pardos had differing roles in terms of labor. Africans, directly from Africa, constituted the agricultural estate and slave population. Free Africans, and, more prominently, free pardos constituted "the majority of the skilled urban work force." Pardos also had the privileged opportunity to serve in militias designed to enforce and maintain Spanish order over natives.

What were the different distinctions of urban and rural slaves?

Plantation slaves endured the lowest set in Latin America, but they were essential to the colonial financial system. The Spaniards and the Portuguese imported mostly males from Africa to work sugar, tobacco, and cacao plantations. The majority of these plantation slaves were in the Caribbean and Brazilian sugar plantations. The deficiency of females, twenty plus hour per day exertion shifts, and rapid rate of fatalities inhibited these Africans from serving any function outside of their purpose of labor and earning the money to buy their manumission. However, some slaves did manage to engage in stable, productive marriages with natives. They also played an important role in terms of their resistance to European demands, which was manifested in sabotage of machinery, feigned illnesses, and escape. Some successful escapees formed runaway communities, or palenques, and maintained their freedom by forming treaties with the Spanish. The captured were publicly and brutally punished. Slave resistance was an African role that did not advance the aims of Spanish colonization.

Urban slaves played a noteworthy role as physical laborers, domestic servants, experienced artisans, street vendors and in a multitude of additional occupations. These Africans enjoyed far better lives than rural slaves. They had time to work for wages in the city to save money and buy their freedom. Free pardos and blacks provided the majority of the skilled urban work force. Every slave had the right to buy his freedom at a reasonable cost, but only the urban slaves realistically had the opportunity to earn sufficient wages to do so. Urban slaves could successfully marry and procreate, which led to an overwhelming Afro-Latino urban population. Regardless of the relative ease of the lives of urban slaves, pursuing the title of free man was their primary objective. While working