Paper trail: slavery and governance in the Spanish Empire
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[1] University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
Town of Mansfield, Estados Unidos
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- Localización: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, ISSN-e 1469-9524, ISSN 1470-1847, Vol. 24, Nº. 2, 2018 (Ejemplar dedicado a: New directions in the political history of the Spanish-Atlantic world, c. 1750–1850), págs. 205-214
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
This article explores the role of the Spanish legal ecology in maintaining social cohesion, bolstering the popular legitimacy of the imperial project, and setting the boundaries of economic development. Drawing the connections between Hapsburg and Bourbon governance through two (inconclusive) legal cases, the first lasting throughout the Spanish War of Succession (1700–1713), and the second occurring during the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763). The ambiguity of missing appeals and references to previous legal actions corresponds to the reality for Africans and their descendants in the Spanish Indies for whom there was rarely a clear endpoint in their dealings with the courts. The first case follows two sisters, Maria Josefa Copete and Lorenza Elena, as they defend their freedom against their half-brother. In the second case Nicolás Quintana, an African slave, fights to avoid being sent to the gold mines and separated from his family.
