Transcript The Spanish Colonies

The Spanish Colonies
Born a Native
• 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
The Encomienda System
• 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
The Requerimiento
• 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
Disease
• 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
African American Enslavement
• 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
Bartolomé de las Casas
• “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
New Laws of 1542
• 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
Corruption in the Repartimiento
• 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
The Mines
• 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
Silver Mine, El Chino
Debt Peonage
• 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
Acculturation
• Natives acquiesced to Spanish religious
instruction for fear of mistreatment
• Close contact with these foreign men
• Difficulty of continuing traditional practices
Conclusion
• 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
The Slave Owners
Importing Slaves
• 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.
Imported Slaves
• 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
Slave Economy
• 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
Life at the Hacienda
• 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
Responsibilities of Hacendados
• 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
Responsibilities con’t
• 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
Profits for Haciendas
• 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
Clothing
• Leather trousers and jacket with silver
buttons
• Sarape
– Bright colors
• Straw sombrero
• Pearl hand pistol
– Shows wealth and status
House
• Large and luxurious - adobe
• Porch that surrounds entire house
• Beautifully decorated
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Ornate paintings and woven rugs
Tile floors
Glass chandeliers
Elaborate wood carvings
• Outside
– Courtyard
• Trees and shrubs
• Fountains
• Bell tower
Events at Hacienda
• Weddings
• Baptisms
• Holidays
– Saints’ days
• Entertain guests
• Hacendado
– Judge
Slaves
Life Before Migration to Mexico
• 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
Why Slavery was Introduced
• 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
Life of a Slave Man and Woman
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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
Life of a Slave Man and Woman con’t
• 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
Siete Partidas
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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`
Methods of Resistance
• 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
Spanish Freed Slaves
Castas
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Absolute, exacting social stratification
Stigmatized by birth and skin color
Male slave + free woman = free children
Light-skinned could pass for high castas
Castas con’t
• Main Castas:
– Peninsular
– Criollo
– Mestizo
– Mulatto
• Other Castas for heritage combinations,
derogatory names (Coyote, Lobo, etc)
Manumission
• 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
Cimarones
• Runaway slaves
• Preyed on travelers, citizens
– Often banded w/ natives
• Lived in secluded areas, small bands
• Forced into treaty to return new runaways
Life after Manumission
• “lingering servitude”
• Increased workforce
– Prominent artisans
– Domestic workers
– Merchants and shop owners
– Militia
• Forced to pay tribute
Life con’t
• 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.