Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T18:29:10.216Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Racial Profile of a Rural Mexican Province in the “Costa Chica”: Igualapa in 1791*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Ben Vinson III
Ben Vinson III*
Affiliation:
Barnard College, Columbia University, New York
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Late colonial Mexico possessed one of the largest free-colored populations in Spanish America, numbering around 370,000 in 1793. The colony's pardos, morenos, and mulattos were highly dispersed, being found throughout the major urban centers, coastal zones, rural areas, and in selected portions of the northern frontier. Studies conducted over the past two decades have assisted enormously in reconstructing the free-colored demographic profile, with particular emphasis on occupational and marriage patterns. Much of this research has resulted from sustained examinations of the caste vs. class debate, which has attempted to understand the manner in which the caste system worked in structuring colonial social relations. Broader, regional histories have added even more to our understanding by situating Blacks within the economic, cultural, and social context of important towns and their hinterlands. Institutional studies have also referenced the Afro-Mexican presence and contributions. However, numerous gaps still exist in our portrait of colonial Afro-Mexicans. Notably, the Pacific coastal regions have received proportionately little attention in comparison to the area of Veracruz. This is surprising since the Costa Chica, occupying portions of the modern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, remains home to some of the more significant concentrations of Afro-Mexicans.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 57 , Issue 2: The African Experience in Early Spanish America , October 2000 , pp. 269 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The author would like to thank Emily Hawkins for her research assistance in preparing this article, as well as the Mellon Foundation for their financial support.

References

1 Beltrán, Gonzalo Aguirre, La población negra de Mexico, Estudio etnohistórico, 3rd ed. (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1989), pp. 222–230.Google Scholar Some feel this figure to be an exaggeration of the free-colored population. See: Klein, Herbert S., African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean (New York and Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1986), p. 222.Google Scholar The limitations and advantages of Beltrán’s work are discussed in Cook, Sherburne F. and Borah, Woodrow, Essays in Population History: Mexico and the Caribbean (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1974), 2: pp. 180–269.Google Scholar Aguirre Beltrán’s 1793 numbers are essentially adaptations of the incomplete, yet outstanding military censuses of 1793. In the Mexican archival holdings, these documents are stored in two repositories, the Padrones section and the Ramo Historia. Aguirre Beltrán, using the summary sheets, has noted that the Padrones portion record 94,597 pardos and morenos in the colony. After incorporating the information from Ramo Historia, which adds the regions of Alta California, New Mexico, Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, Mexico City, Tabasco, and Mérida, the figures jump to 186,977. We can claim with certainty that the Afro-Mexican population numbered at least this amount upon the eve of the nineteenth century. See also: “The Foundation of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de los Morenos de Amapa, Mexico (1769),” in Colonial Spanish America, A Documentary History, ed. Mills, Kenneth and Taylor, William B. (Wilmington: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1998), p. 275.Google Scholar Here, the free-colored population of over 380,000 was said to represent 6% of the colony’s inhabitants.

2 A sample of the literature includes: Palma, Angélica Castillo, “Exogamia y cruce de la barrera de color como vías de integración de la población de ascendencia africana, el caso de Cholula 1649–1813,” delivered at the X Conference of Mexican and North American Historians, Dallas, Texas, November 19–22, 1999;Google Scholar Brading, David A., “Grupos étnicos: Clases y estructura ocupacional en Guanajuato,” in Hístoria y población en México, ed. Calvo, Thomas, (Mexico City: El Colegio de México, 1994), pp. 240–260;Google Scholar Chance, John K. and Taylor, William B., “Estate and Class in a Colonial City, Oaxaca in 1792,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 19, (1977): pp. 454–87;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Idem, , “The Ecology of Race and Class in Late Colonial Oaxaca,” in Studies in Spanish American Population History, ed. Robinson, David J. (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1981), pp. 93–117;Google Scholar Douglas Cope, R., The Limits of Racial Domination, Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660–1720 (Madison, Wisconsin: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1994);Google Scholar Seed, Patricia, “The Social Dimensions of Race: Mexico City 1753,” HAHR 62, no. 4 (1982): pp. 569–606;Google Scholar Anderson, Rodney D., “Race and Social Stratification: A Comparison of Working-Class Spaniards, Indians and Castas in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1821,” HAHR 68, no. 2 (1988): pp. 209–41;Google Scholar Valdes, Dennis Nodin, “Decline of the Sociedad de Castas in Mexico City” (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan, 1978);Google Scholar Bennett, Herman L., “Lovers, Family, and Friends: The Formation of Afro-Mexico, 1580–1810,” Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1993,Google Scholar and McCaa, Robert, Schwartz, Stuart, and Grubessich, Arturo, “Race and Class in Colonial Latin America: A Critique,” in Comparative Studies in Society and History 25 (1979) pp. 421–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3 This article uses the terms black and free-colored interchangeably to refer to the population of pardos, morenos, and mulattos.

4 For some examples see: Thomson, Guy, Puebla de los Angeles: Industry and Society in a Mexican City, 1700–1850 (Boulder, San Francisco, and London: Westview Press, 1989);Google Scholar Carroll, Patrick J., Blacks in Colonial Veracruz: Race, Ethnicity, and Regional Development (Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 1991);Google Scholar Chávez Carbajal, Maria Guadalupe, Propietarios y esclavos negros en Michoacán (1600–1650) (Morella, Michoacán: Universidad de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, 1994);Google Scholar Chávez, Adriana Naveda, Esclavos negros en las haciendas azucareras de Córdoba Veracruz, 1690–1830 (Xalapa, Veracruz: Universidad Veracruzana, 1987);Google Scholar von Mentz, Brígida, Pueblos de indios, mulatos y mestizos, 1770–1870 (Mexico City: CIESAS, 1988);Google Scholar and de la Serna, Juan Manuel, “El trabajo esclavo y la manufactura textil de finales del siglo XVIII en la ciudad de Querétaro,” delivered at the X Conference of Mexican and North American Historians, Dallas, Texas, November 19–22, 1999.Google Scholar

5 For the military, see: Vinson, Ben III, “Bearing Arms for His Majesty: The Free-Colored Militia in Colonial Mexico,” Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1998;Google Scholar and McAlister, Lyle N., The “Fuero Militar” in New Spain, 1764–1800 (Gainesville: Univ. of Florida Press, 1957).Google Scholar

6 Portions of the twentieth-century Costa Chica are analyzed in Beltrán, Aguirre, Cuijla: Eshozo etnográfico de un pueblo negro (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1995).Google Scholar

7 Cook, and Borah, , Essays in Population History, pp. 217–220.Google Scholar

8 Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), Padrones, vol. 18, fs., 209–305v; Gerhard, Peter, Geografía histórica de la Nueva España, 1519–1821 (Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1986), p. 155.Google Scholar

9 Unfortunately, the census does not provide information on female occupations. This research is based only on male employment.

10 The principal guides used in this article for developing both the “economic sector” and “class-based” analyses have been the studies of: Seed, “Social Dimensions of Race”; Chance and Taylor, Race and Class; and Thomson, Puebla.

11 For Valladolid and Patzcuaro see: AGN, I.G. 296-B, unnumbered pages, Valladolid and Patzcuaro, 1759–1762. For Orizaba see: AGN,.I.G., vol. 232-B, Dionisio Surtado, Aug. 14, 1769, Orizaba. For Puebla see: Archivo Histórico del Ayuntamiento de Puebla (AHAP), legajo 1385, fs. 69–103v; AHAP, legajo 1387, fs. 136–177v; AHAP, legajo, 1388, fs. 178–237v; AHAP, legajo 1389, fs. 238–326; AHAP, lejago 1390, fs. 2–99v; and Subdirección de Documentación de la Biblioteca Nacional de Hístoria (BNAH), Archivo Judicial de Puebla, rollos 43–44, Tributos, Expediente formado en virtud de las exigencias hechas por los alcaldes ordinarios al gobernador intendente Don Manuel de Flon con el fin de cobrar tributos de negros y mulatos, Puebla, 1795. For Mexico City see: Gutiérrez, Felipe Castro, La extinción de la artesanía gremial (Mexico City: Universidad Autónoma de México, 1986), pp. 172–180;Google Scholar and AGN, Indiferentes de Guerra (I.G.), 497-A, Pie de lista de los oficiales, sargentos, tambores, cabos, y soldados de expresada compania [Mexico City] con distincion de sus nombres, estatura, edad, estado, y oficio, 1767. Note that some of these documents list information only for free-colored militiamen.

12 AGN, I.G., vol. 53-A, Thomas Serrada, Aug. 16, 1780, Tampico; and AGN, I.G., vol. 416-A, unnumbered pages, Acayucan, 1795. These documents cite occupational information only for free-colored militiamen.

13 The importance of Blacks in these trades throughout New Spain is offered here as a working hypothesis, based on information gleaned from the documents cited in the notes above, and from works such as Brading, “Grupos étnicos,” pp. 240–260.

14 For the purposes of this article, small, intermediate, and large estates have been defined according to the number of residents per agricultural unit. The census does not allow us to examine the actual size of the properties themselves by hectares. Also, estate productivity cannot be measured from the document. Small and intermediate estates housed up to 75 individuals. These included the ranchos of Cuilutla (48 persons), Rosario (69), and Chilcahuite (6), the hacienda of Copala (70), as well as the trapiche of Santa María Exipciaca (17). Estates holding more than 75 individuals have been cataloged here as large rural properties. These included the estancias of Quajiniquilapa (923), San Nicolás (393), Maldonado (320), Juchitan (583); the ranchos de Garzas (90) and Cintla (111); as well as the hacienda de Cruz Grande (373). Decisions regarding size classification have been made according to the population distribution of the province. Small estates, therefore, are small in relation to the distribution of persons on Igualapa’s rural properties. Despite the particular and unique features of Igualapa’s estates, there is room for comparison with other Mexican provinces. For example, the population densities of the ranchos of Igualapa can be readily examined in light of the ranchos and haciendas de labor of Morelos, Oaxaca, Colima, etc. Of course, in conducting comparative work one should always be sure that rather than attempting to reach an objectified model of the “hacienda” or “rancho,” one must acknowledge that estate sizes vary according to region and function. Therefore, attempts to provide a standardized meaning of rural estates can only approximate these regional differences. While the literature on this last point is vast, an important tome is: Florescano, Enrique, ed., Haciendas, latifundios y plantaciones en América Latina (Mexico City, Mexico: Siglo XXI Editores), 1978.Google Scholar

15 For some brief samples, see: AGN, Criminal, vol. 542, exp. 6, fs. 160–163.

16 AGN, Criminal, vol. 542, exp. 6, fol. 162.

17 Martin, Cheryl English, Rural Society in Colonial Morelos (Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press, 1985), p. 13.Google Scholar

18 Taylor, William B., Landlord and Peasant in Colonial Oaxaca (Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 1972), pp. 121–135;Google Scholar and Young, Eric Van, Hacienda and Market in Eighteenth-Century Mexico (Berke ley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 1981) pp. 105–236.Google Scholar For Morelos see: Martin, , Colonial Morelos, pp. 148–152.Google Scholar Martin calculates the average size of a hacienda in late eighteenth century More los as holding 500 residents. Of course, there were larger estates; however, only one of the haciendas highlighted in her study was comparable in size to the largest estancia in Igualapa. The Estancia of Qua jiniquilapa had 923 residents in 1791 while the Hacienda of Santa Clara Montefalco had 998 residents in the 1790s.

19 AGN, Criminal, vol. 542, exp. 5, fs. 105–156. Unlike haciendas, which also had militia personnel, the soldiers on Igualapa’s estancias tended to form cohesive units.

20 Mulatto percentages are based on calculations for male household heads. The census only provides place of origin for adult males.

21 AGN, Criminal, vol. 542, exp. 5, fs. 105–156.

22 Unfortunately, the census does not allow for an exact reconstruction of the plan of each settlement. The inference of residential proximity comes solely from examining how households are positioned on the census. The sequential arrangement of households appears to have been a standard practice for census counts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Households listed before or after one another were usually in relatively close proximity. For an excellent model see: AGN, Padrones, vol. 63, fs. 1–158. This data documents cuartel 23 in Mexico City, 1811.

23 For some examples see: Brading, , “Grupos étnicos,” pp. 258–259;Google Scholar Carmagnani, Marcelo, “Demografía y sociedad: La estructura social de los centros mineros del norte de México, 1600–1720,” in Historia y población, pp. 130–134;Google Scholar Carroll, , “Los mexicanos negros, el mestizaje y los fundamentos olvidados de la “Raza Cósmica”: Una perspectiva regional,” Historia Mexicana vol. 44, no. 3 (1995): pp. 403–438;Google Scholar Rabell, Cecilia, “Matrimonio y raza en una parroquia rural: San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, 1715–1810,” in Historia y población, pp. 168–183, and pp. 199–201;Google Scholar Pescador, Juan Javier, De bautizoados a fieles difuntos: Familia y mentalidades en una Parroquia urbana, Santa Catarina de México, 1568–1820 (Mexico City: El Colegio de México, 1992), pp. 145–181;Google Scholar Calvo, , “Familias y sociedad: Zamora (Siglos XVII-XIX),” in Historia de la familia, comp. Pilar Gonzalbo (Mexico City: Instituto Mora, 1993), pp. 129–140.Google Scholar

24 Carroll, , “Mexicanos negros,” pp. 403–438.Google Scholar

25 Brading, , “Grupos étnicos,” pp. 258–259;Google Scholar Carmagnani, , “Demografía y sociedad,” pp. 130–134;Google Scholar Carroll, , “Mexicanos negros,” pp. 411–419;Google Scholar Rabell, , “Matrimonio y raza,” pp. 168–183, and pp. 199–201.Google Scholar

26 This is a low figure based on the numbers of Mentz’s typology of rural townships. The percentage would have applied more to townships than to haciendas and plantations. Fewer Indians resided on these estates because labor structures were weighted to attract coloreds and Blacks; however, Indians were still found there nevertheless. Mentz, , Pueblos de indios, p. 83;Google Scholar and Carroll, , Blacks in Veracruz, p. 115.Google Scholar