Book contents
- From Colonial Cuba to Madrid
- Afro-Latin America
- From Colonial Cuba to Madrid
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Imperial Reform, Privatization, and Enslavement
- 2 An Unorthodox Pueblo and Its Apoderados
- 3 Making the Case for Collective Freedom
- 4 Native Bonds, Native Rights
- 5 The Council’s Ruling and the Politics of Litigation
- 6 A “Pernicious” Communication
- 7 Violence, Marronage, and Litigation
- 8 The Final Outcome of the Case
- 9 The Nineteenth-Century Afterlife of the Freedom Edict of 1800
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
6 - A “Pernicious” Communication
Gregorio Cosme’s Letters from Madrid
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024
- From Colonial Cuba to Madrid
- Afro-Latin America
- From Colonial Cuba to Madrid
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Imperial Reform, Privatization, and Enslavement
- 2 An Unorthodox Pueblo and Its Apoderados
- 3 Making the Case for Collective Freedom
- 4 Native Bonds, Native Rights
- 5 The Council’s Ruling and the Politics of Litigation
- 6 A “Pernicious” Communication
- 7 Violence, Marronage, and Litigation
- 8 The Final Outcome of the Case
- 9 The Nineteenth-Century Afterlife of the Freedom Edict of 1800
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
The freedman Gregorio Cosme Osorio’s extant letters from Madrid in 1795 are the focus of Chapter 6. They provide a direct perspective of a cobrero leader’s legal culture, his views on the case, and his activities as liaison between Madrid and El Cobre (including an alleged meeting with the king). Cosme’s missives from the royal court, which high colonial officials considered subversive, critiqued politics of the law in the colony and kept the cobreros abreast of the imperial edicts issued in Madrid in their favor which colonial authorities ignored. His liaison role during fifteen years was crucial to keep the case alive in the royal court.
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- From Colonial Cuba to MadridLitigating Collective Freedom and Native Rights in the Spanish Empire, 1780–1814, pp. 208 - 229Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024