Black Mexicans
The history of slavery in the Americas normally covers the situation of the blacks in North America. However, recently there have been increasing numbers of historical studies conducted about Africans in Latin America, specifically Mexico. Blacks were present as slaves of the Spaniards as early as the 1520s, when Mexico was known as New Spain. Over the next 300 years, the slave trade brought approximately 200,000 Africans to the colony. In fact, there were more slaves than Spaniards. Numerous blacks were born in Mexico and followed their parents as slaves. Slavery was not abolished until 1829, but today the descendants still live in Mexico and their cultural heritage remains in music and dance and the arts. The Spanish invaded Mexico in the early 1500s and soon exploited local labor for its needs for mining and agricultural efforts, so there was little initial interest in African slaves. Soon, however, disease and depopulation of local labor made the Spaniards look elsewhere for their workers. The Spaniards had an excellent supply of precious metals as well as a healthy trade balance with Europe, so could easily afford to bring African slaves into the country to fill in the regions abandoned by Amerindian laborers. They were als
While black and native motives for being in the military varied and militiamen were sometimes coerced into serving by the colonial authorities, most of the soldiers seemed to accept this service in terms of self-interest. Since they live and work and have similar enjoyment as their neighbors live, it is believed that they are assimilated into "Mexican" society. The economic base of the Costa Chica, like most of the country, is agricultural. 6 The situation for the blacks differed depending where they were located in Mexico. These corridos go back to African traditions, and the words are symbolic of the first slaves who invented "code words" to protest the cruelties of their masters. Even after Spain's defeat and the Mexican independence in 1821, many of the slaves who had been hiding in the mountains refused to come down because they feared enslavement. In Mexico, Central America, and the Andean nations, the numbers were much lower than in other areas of Latin America, because of the number of local workers. For companies of black soldiers, service became the basis for gaining many different kinds of tribute and taxation exemptions. To the contrary, Indians were a detriment because they could not be moved from their lands on a permanent basis and already had an established culture and language. Slaves also dominated the ranks of the rebellion in Veracruz for five years against local towns and plantations. However, sometimes they abused their power and exploited the natives both physically and financially. Such networks, which grew in Veracruz, Mexico City, and among the mining and sugar laborers, gave Africans the ability to preserve a degree of their cultural heritage as the same time as they adapted to their new country. Another plus was the mortality differential. They were attracted to distant areas like this, because the governing institutions were weaker with less surveillance and prejudice.
Common topics in this essay:
Indians Spaniards,
Costa Chica,
Spaniards Numerous,
Latin America,
Mexico Indian,
Spanish American,
Mexico African,
Africa Yangas,
Latin African,
Mexico City,
costa chica,
african slaves,
latin america,
africans latin america,
mexican society,
spanish american,
africans latin,
slaves spaniards,
brazil cuba,
local labor,
workers spaniards,
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