Free and Not so Much: Black Slavery in the Spanish Colonial World

Authors

Taylor Ritz, University of Nebraska at Kearney

Abstract

Although started by the Portuguese and used widely in Brazil, the slave trade and the use of slaves were quickly adopted by the Spanish in the Western World.1 Not much is known about the black slavery that happened in Latin America or how it was different from the common idea of slavery in the United States. This paper’s objective is to open the reader’s eyes and inform them about what black slavery was like in colonial Spanish America.

In theory, it was assumed that slavery in the southern United States had the same principles, and was the same, as Latin American black slavery. However, in practice, black slavery was a very unique and different concept in Latin America because physical labor, punishment, and mistreatment among slaves were torturous in Latin America, racial mixing of slaves was more tolerated in Latin America for the benefits of the white race, slavery was significant to the Spanish economy, and access to freedom for slaves was greater in Latin America but at a certain cost with certain restrictions.

Recommended Citation

Ritz, Taylor (2015) "Free and Not so Much: Black Slavery in the Spanish Colonial World," Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 19, Article 17.
Available at: https://openspaces.unk.edu/undergraduate-research-journal/vol19/iss1/17