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Manumission in Colonial Buenos Aires, 1776-1810

Author(s): Lyman L. Johnson


Source: The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 59, No. 2 (May, 1979), pp. 258-279
Published by: Duke University Press
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Hispanic AmericanHistoricalReview
59(2), 1979, 258-279
Copyright? 1979 by Duke UniversityPress

Manumissionin ColonialBuenosAires,
1776-1810

LYMAN L. JOHNSON

the lastfiveyearsa seriesofimportant


URING newstud-
ies on manumissionin Latin Americahave appeared.'
Althoughmanumissionhad been discussedpreviously
by almost everystudentof slaveryin Latin America,earlier analyses
were handicapped severely by the nature of the sources consulted.
Travelers' accounts, imperial legislation,governmentalreports,and
census materialswere used in these older studiesto estimatethe num-
ber of manumissionsgrantedand to identifythe segmentsof the slave
populationthatwere mostlikelyto be freed. While these sourcescon-
tinueto have a demonstratedutilityforthe studyof slavery,theypro-
vide littleconcretedata forthe studyof manumission.All of the recent
investigationsshare a commonsource, actual manumissionsrecorded
by notaries,and a commonmethod,quantitativeanalysis.
Since manumissionwas a legal act, the transferof propertyrights
fromowner to slave, nearly all manumissionsgranted in civil juris-
* The authoris AssistantProfessorof Historyat the Universityof North
Carolina,Charlotte.An earlierversionof this paper was presentedat the 1976
meetingof the Social Science HistoryAssociation.The authorwishes to thank
HerbertS. Klein and StuartB. Schwartzfortheircommentsand suggestions.
1. FrederickP. Bowser,"The Free Personsof Colorin Lima and MexicoCity:
Manumissionand Opportunity, 1580-1650" in StanleyL. Engermanand Eugene
D. Genovese,eds., Race and Slaveryin the WesternHemisphere:Quantitative
Studies (Princeton,1974); StuartB. Schwartz,"The Manumissionof Slaves in
Colonial Brazil: Bahia, 1684-1745," HAHR, 54 (Nov. 1974), 603-635; Arnold
Kessler,"Bahian ManumissionPracticesin the Early NineteenthCentury,"un-
publishedms. presentedto the AmericanHistoricalAssociation(San Francisco,
1973); JamesPatrickKiernan,"Baptismand Manumission:Paraty,Brazil,1789-
1822,"unpublishedms. presentedto the Social ScienceHistoryAssociation(Phil-
adelphia,1976) and "The Manumission of Slavesin ColonialBrazil: Paraty,1789-
1822" (Ph.D. Diss., New YorkUniversity, 1976); Katia M. QueirosMattoso,"A
propositode Cartasda Alforriana Bahia, 1779-1850,"Anaisde Historia,4 (1972),
23-25, and "Os Escravosna Bahia no Alvorecerde Seculo XIX," Revistade His-
toria(Sao Paulo), 48 (1976), 109-135; and LymanL. Johnson, "La manumision
de esclavos en Buenos Aires duranteel virreinato," DesarrolloEcon6mico,16
(Oct.-Dec. 1976), 331-348.

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS AmIES 259
dictionswitha residentnotarywere recordedthroughoutLatin Amer-
ica. Althoughsome manumissionsin rural areas may have occurred
withoutthis formality, very few manumissionsgrantedin the urban
centers of Portuguese and Spanish America were not recorded in
notarial registers.2Each manumissiondocument provides a broad
rangeof descriptivedata about both slave and masterthat arrangedin
serialformpermitsaccuratemeasurementof total manumissions,types
of manumissiongranted,and identificationof those portionsof the
slave populationand ownerclass thatparticipatedin the process.3
This articleexaminesmanumissionin Buenos Aires duringthe final
thirty-fiveyearsof the colonial period. The period studiedbegins with
the creationof the Viceroyaltyof Rio de la Plata and the selectionof
Buenos Aires as its capital in 1776 and ends with the firststage of the
independencestrugglein 1810. During the interveningperiod,Buenos
Aires emerged as the undisputed commercialand political center of
the Platine region. The city'senhanced political role associated with
the creationofthe new viceroyaltystimulatedrapid populationgrowth.
The decisionofthe imperialgovernment to increasethe size of military
and naval garrisonsin the region and to augmentthe administrative
bureaucracyof the cityproduced an increased demand for goods and
services that, in turn, attractedlaborers, artisans,and professionals
fromSpain, otherEuropean nations,and the cities of the colonial in-
terior. In addition,Buenos Aires increasinglybecame the destination
for substantialnumbersof slaves, both fromAfrica and Brazil.4 Al-

2. JamesKiernanfoundcases of infantmanumission in Paratythatwereregis-


tered in baptismalrecordsbut not in notarialcopybooks. Since many colonial
baptismalrecordsforBuenos Aireswere destroyedin the violenceof the 1950s
or are difficultto consult,we cannotbe sure that additionalmanumissions of
infantsdid not occur. However,a searchof baptismalrecordsavailable through
theChurchof LatterDay Saintsfailedto producecases of baptismalmanumissions
notrecordedalsobynotariesin colonialBuenosAires.
3. The recordsused forthis studyare foundin tlle ArchivoGeneralde la
Nacion,Buenos Aires (hereaftercited as AGN), Protocolosde Escribania,Reg-
istros1-7. The variablesrecordedby the notaryinclude: owner'sgender,owner's
residence,owner'scivil state, owner'soccupation,owner'srace, mannerof ac-
quiringslave,formof manumission, slave'sgender,slave'sage, slave'scolor,slave's
birthplace,slave's civil state,slave's occupation,numberof slaves freed,familial
relationshipamongfreedslaves,and formof paymentin purchasedmanumissions.
4. The best studyof the slave trade to Buenos Airesis still Elena F. S. de
Studer,La tratade negrosen el Ri,ode la Plata duranteel siglo XVIII (Buenos
Aires,1958). De Studerfound 12,473 slaves introducedto Buenos Aires from
Brazil, 1742-1806, and 13,460 slaves broughtdirectlyfromAfricaduringthe
sameperiod. In addition,all evidencepointsto a substantial introductionof contra-
band slavesduringthe colonialperiod. Finally,thousandsof slaveswere captured
by privateersduringthe war withBritain,1806-1808,and sold in BuenosAires.

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260 AHR I MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

thoughthemajorityof theseinvoluntaryimmigrants were resoldto the


miningcentersof Upper Peru, large numbersof slaves were retained
in thecityto meetlocal labor demands.
Because massiveimmigration fromEurope to Argentina,particular-
ly to Buenos Aires,in the nineteenthcenturyoverwhelmedthe demo-
graphicremainsof the city'scolonial socioracialstructure,
it is difficult
for modern students to conceive of the importantrole played by
Africansand theirdescendantsin colonial Buenos Aires.5 City census
materialsindicatethat Negroes and mulattoscomprisedapproximately
one-thirdof the urban population duringthe viceregal period. These
same sources also suggest that a substantialmajorityof both racial
groupswere slaves throughout theperiod.
Not onlywere large numbersof Negroesand mulattospresentin the
city,but they also played an importantrole in the urban economy.
Slaves and theirfreedescendantssupplied much of the city'sunskilled
labor. In addition, these groups figuredprominentlyin the artisan
craftswhere they competed increasinglywith immigrantcraftsmen
fromEurope.6 It is evidentthatmanyofthe city'spettyentrepreneurial
occupations-water vendors, laundresses, street peddlers, and car-
riers-were dominated by slaves. Only at the highestlevels of the
urbanoccupationalhierarchywere Negroesand mulattoseffectively ex-
cluded fromfull participationduringthe colonial period.
Activeinvolvementin the urban economyprovidedelementsin the
slave population of colonial Buenos Aires with the opportunityto ac-
cumulate savings and correspondingly helped to defineboth the vol-
ume of manumissionand the types of manumissiongranted. During
period studied,1,482 manumissionswere recorded
the thirty-five-year
by notariesin Buenos Aires and in nearlysixtypercentof these cases
freedomwas purchased by the individual freedmanor his family.7

A conservativeestimateof bothlegal and illegalimportations forthe period1750-


1810wouldbe 45,000slaves.
5. An excellentshortdiscussionof immigration to Argentina is foundin David
Rock,Politicsin Argentina,1890-1930 (Cambridge,1975), pp. 10-18. He notes
thatbetween1869 and 1929, sixtypercentof the nation'spopulationgrowthcan
be attributed
to immigration. In fact,halfthe populationof BuenosAiresin 1914
was foreign-bom.
6. For a discussionof the rivalrybetweenwhite and nonwhiteartisanssee
Johnson, "The Silversmithsof BuenosAires: A Case Studyin the Failureof Cor-
porateSocial Organization,"Journalof Latin AmericanStudies,8 (Nov. 1976),
181-213.
7. There was great varietyin manumissionagreementsmade between in-
dividualslaves and theirmasters.In thirty-three cases, slaves were able to pay
fortheirfreedomin installments. In twenty-seven additionalcases, slaves agreed

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS ARES 261
Althoughmanumissionwas morecommonin Buenos Airesand in other
regionsofLatin Americathanin NorthAmerica,it is clear thatreligious
and humanitalianfactorswere less importantthan earlier investiga-
torshad suggested.8In Buenos Aires,forexample,therewas onlyone
manumissionof a child at baptismand therewere no cases where the
slaveowneridentifiedhimselfas the godfather,padrino,of the freed-
man. Spanish law did provide some protectionfor slaves who sought
freedom,but in only 34 cases in Buenos Aires did civil authoritiesin-
terveneon behalf of a slave whose owner refusedmanumission.That
is, the colonial societies of Latin America toleratedmanumission,but
the processwas not encouragedactivelyby eitherChurchor state. In-
stead of these institutional explanationsof manumission,recentstudies
have suggestedthat the economic and demographiccharacteristicsof
each community determinedboththevolumeof manumissionand those
segmentsof the slave populationthatwould benefitfromit.
Manumissiondata fromBuenos Airesare in generalagreementwith
published data fromother regions of Latin America. The fact that
these similaritiescan be noted for such a wide geographic expanse
over nearlytwo centuriessuggeststhat althoughlocal economiccondi-
tions,local labor supplies,volume of the slave trade,and the resultant
marketvalue of slaves all had some impact on manumission,these
variables did not controlthe process completely.Table I displaysthe
marginaldistributionsof four variables,color, gender,age, and form
of manumission,forBuenos Aires,Bahia, and Paraty in Brazil, Lima,
and Mexico City. The comparativedata suggestthat similarconstit-
uencies in the slave populations of Latin America usually benefited
fromthemanumissionprocess.
In each analysisof manumissionwhere color was noted, a majority
of those slaves who gained freedomwere Negroes. It does appear,
however,that mulattosenjoyed some advantage in the manumission
process. Because contemporarycensus data are often unreliable or
nonexistent, it is difficultto measurethisapparentadvantage with any
authority.A recentanalysisof the 1810 census of Buenos Aires found
thatNegroes accounted formorethan eightypercentof the total slave

to continue providing their owners with some desired service even though sub-
stantial cash payments were made. In the following analysis, these cases have
been combined with the more typical self-purchase arrangementwhere the slave
or a member of his or her familymade a direct cash payment to the owner.
8. Schwartz notes a similar pattem in colonial Bahia in "Manumission of
Slaves in Colonial Brazil," p. 633.

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262 IIAH MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

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MANUMISSION IN COLONLAL BUENOS AIRES 263
population.9Althoughthis figureis suspect because of the extremely
large number of cases where the slave's color was not recorded
(seventy-twopercent unknown), it does appear that mulattoswere
substantiallyless than forty-nine percent of the slave population in
Buenos Aires. Stuart B. Schwartz has noted the same advantage for
mulattosin Bahia, 1684-1745; and JamesP. Kiernan reportedsimilar
resultsforParaty.10
Female slaves appear also to have had an advantage in the manu-
missionprocess. Every recentstudyof manumissionin Latin America
has found that a sizeable majorityof those freed were females. As
Table I illustrates,the gender characteristicsof the manumittedwere
remarkablysimilar throughoutthe region, despite the fact that the
slave trade maintaineda male majorityin the slave populationin each
oftheselocales duringtheperiodsstudied.1'
Less uniformity of resultsis evidentforthe variables,age and form
of manumission.Only in the cases of Lima and Mexico City were a
majorityof those freedchildren. This may be explained by the small
sample size in thisstudyor by some local factornot identifiablein the
manumissiondocuments.12The largestpercentageof adult freedmen
was found in Buenos Aires,where the age of those manumittedwas
mostpreciselyand regularlynotedin the documents.Purchasedmanu-

9. The mostrecentand comprehensive analysisof the censusof 1810 is Cesar


A. Garcia Belsunceet al., Buenos Aires: Su gente,1800-1830 (Buenos Aires,
1976). A majorproblemconfronting anyonewho uses colonialcensusmaterials
to discussthe size of theraciallymixedpopulationis thatcensustakersapparently
identifieda substantial numberof light-skinned nonwhitesas white. The best dis-
cussionof this problemis foundin Marta B. Goldberg,"La poblacionnegra y
mulata de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, 1810-1840," DesarrolloEcono'mico,16
(Apr.-June1976), 81.
10. Schwartz,"Manumissionof Slaves in CololnialBrazil,"p. 609, and Kier-
nan,"Baptismand Manumission," p. 6.
11. According tothedatafor1810 foundinGarclaBelsunceet al., BuenosAires:
Su gente,p. 260, males were fifty-four percentof the slave populationof Buenos
Aires. Kiernan,"Baptismand Manumission," p. 4, estimatesthatfifty-nine
percent
of the slave populationof Paraty,Brazil were males; and althoughSchwartzin
"Manumission of Slaves in ColonialBrazil,"p. 611, does not assigna specificper-
centageto the male portionof the slave populationof Bahia, he suggeststhat a
majority oftheslavepopulationwas male.
12. The data forMexico City and Lima presentedby Bowserin "The Free
Personsof Color,"have limitedcomparative utilitysince Bowserdoes not indicate
how his samplewas derived. The smallnumberof cases forMexicoCity,in par-
ticular,suggeststhathis resultsbe used withcaution. Bowser'sconclusionthatthe
emancipationof childrenby freefathersrepresented a substantialpercentageof
totalmanumissions agreeswitha studyof the Brazilianfreecoloredpopulationby
HerbertS. Klein,"NineteenthCenturyBrazil" in David W. Cohen and JackP.
Greene,eds., NeitherSlave Nor Free (Baltimore,1972), pp. 318-319.

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264 HAHR MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

missionswere also most commonin Buenos Aires. This characteristic


was probably a functionof the age distributionof those freed since
childrenwere the most likelyrecipientsof gratismanumissionsin all
ofthesocietiesstudied. In each of the citiesstudiedso far,gratismanu-
missionswere fairlycommon,but onlyin Mexico Citywas gratismanu-
missionmoreprevalentthanpurchasedmanumission.A substantialpro-
portionof freedmenreceivedconditionalmanumissions.In these cases
the slave was promisedfreedomat some futuredate, usually upon the
death of the owner,or afterthe completionof a specifictask such as a
slave carpenterbuilding a new home for his master. In some cases
where manumissionwas tied to the futuregood conduct of the slave,
a freedmanwho failed to fulfillthe statedconditionscould be returned
to bondage.
The manumissiondata collected fromthe notarialrecordsof colo-
nial Buenos Aires permit an analysis of interrelationships among a
broad range of variablesthatdescribepartiallyboth ownersand freed-
men. An examinationof the data demonstratesthat some of the ex-
planationsformanumissionfoundin the literatureneed to be revised
or discarded. In the case of Buenos Aires,thereappears to be no evi-
dence that considerablenumbersof slaves manumittedbetween 1776
and 1810 were the progenyof theirowners. It is, of course,impossible
to identifypreciselyall cases of owner paternityfromthe manumis-
sion documentssince therewas certainlyno compulsionto admit the
paterniityof a slave child. It is also difficultto discover cases where
mastersfreed childrenfatheredby their sons or other white males
residentin theirhouseholds,or cases where purchased manumissions
were arrangedby whitefatherswho were unrelatedto the slaveowner.
A close analysisof manumissionsgranitedchildren,however,will help
place the questionofpaternityin perspective.
There were 224 childrenunder age fourteenfreedin Buenos Aires
duringthe period studied. Men freed 132 of these and women freed
the remaining92. An identicalpercentageof childrenfreed by both
groupswere mulattos,sixty-six percent. This apparent advantage en-
joyed by mulattochildrenwas found also among childrenunder six
years,the age cohortwhere the illegitimateprogenyof slaveownersor
otherwhitemales would probablybe found. There were 128 children
undersix manumittedand in 120 cases the color of the child was cited
by the notary. Eighty-twoof these childrenwere mulattos. Although
48 of these mulattochildrenwere freed by male owners,only 12 re-
ceived a gratuitousmanumissionfroma livingowner. Four morewere
freedin the wills of male owners. The remaining32 mulattochildren

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS ARES 265
freedby male ownershad theirfreedompurchased by theirparents.
Althoughit cannot be assumed thatmale ownerswould not require a
a paymentbeforefreeingtheirprogenyor that a male owner freeing
a mulattochild gratuitouslywas the child's father,it seems unlikely
thatpaternityexplainsmorethana smallfractionof these cases. There
is also the possibilitythat some of the 34 mulattochildrenunder six
yearsfreedby womenwere the progenyof sons,deceased husbands,or
other male relatives. It does appear, however, that the number of
paternity-related manumissionswas less than the 82 cases where mu-
latto childrenunder six were freed,amountingto under five percent
of the total manumissionsrecordedbetween 1776 and 1810.
Table II displays the age distributionsof Negroes and mulattos
freed in Buenos Aires. Mulatto childrenwere much more likelythan
theirNegro contemporaries to be manumitted.Only as adults did the
proportionsof Negroes freed approximatethe percentageof Negroes
in the total slave population. Althoughthe distinctage distributions
found for these two groups cannot be completelyexplained by an
analysis of notaryrecords,some effortmust be made to explain why
twenty-four percent of all mulattosfreed were childrenunder four-
teen years,while only eleven percentof the manumittedNegroes were
in thisage cohort. Two interrelatedexplanationscan be offeredtenta-
tively. It is clear that knowledge of the manumissionprocess and
specific awareness of the successfuleffortsof other slaves who had
achieved freedomwere useful to the slave who sought freedomfor
himselfor his children. Since the slave communityof Buenos Aires
was largelyilliterate,information about the manumissionprocess was
acquired throughpersonalcontactswithotherslaves. Therefore,slaves
bornin Buenos Airesor in otherareas subject to Spanish law and cus-
tom had a decided advantage in the manumissionprocess over recent
arrivalsfromeitherAfrica or Brazil. Althoughtens of thousands of
African-born slaves entered Buenos Aires during the period studied,
only55 of the 995 freedmenforwhom birthplacecould be determined
were bornoutside Spanish America. The vast majority(922) of freed-
men were born withinthe jurisdictionof Buenos Aires.
Skin color can be used as a rough index for familialpresence in
America. In general,it was more likelythat a mulatto'santecedents
had been presentin Buenos Aireslongerthan had the familialanteced-
ents of a Negro. As a group, therefore,mulattoswere more creole,
moreexperiencedin and knowledgeableabout local culture,and more
aware of opportunities formanumission.Beyond this,it is evidentalso
that the preferencesand prejudicesof the owner class also influenced

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266 HAHR M
IAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON
TABLE II: Race of Slave by Age at Manumission.

To 5 6 to 13 14 to 45 More than 45
Race N % N %0 N %0 N %0
Negro 38 31.7 39 36.4 512 53.3 84 68.9
Mulatto 82 68.3 68 63.6 448 46.7 38 31.1
Total 120 100 107 100 960 100 122 100

the manumissionprocess and that thisinfluencewas most clear in the


manumissionof children. As pointed out by Schwartzin his studyof
Bahia, slaveownerstendedto expressa naturalaffectionand interestfor
childrenborn in theirhouseholdsthat was not related necessarilyto
biological paternity.13Since mulatto childrenmore closely approxi-
mated white somaticnorms,they were even more likelythan darker-
skinned children to benefit from the paternalisticinterestof their
owners.14As a result,mulattoparents were more likely to translate
knowledgeof the manumissionprocess and the paternalisticconcernof
ownersinto freedomfortheirchildrenthan were Negro parents.
The gender of the slaveownerexercisedan importantinfluenceon
boththe opportunity fora slave to gain freedomand the type of manu-
missiongranted.As shouldbe expected,male ownersfreedmoreslaves
than did female owners. Male owners were responsiblefor sixty-two
percentof the 1,482manumissionsgrantedin Buenos Aires. Since men
dominatedthe economiclife of the city and had consequentlygreater
access to the capital resources necessary to purchase and maintain
slaves, theirshare of manumissionsappears smallerthan anticipated.
It is more strikingthat thirty-threepercentof the manumittedslaves
were owned by women,eighty-seven percentof whom were single or
widowed heads ofhouseholds.15

13. Schwartzhas suggestedthe term"surrogatepaternity"to describethe


paternalinterestof a slaveownerfora biologicallyunrelatedslave child bom in
his or her household. In addition,Schwartz'data for Bahia indicate a similar
perferenceformulattochildrenin the manumission process. In Bahia seventy-six
percentof the childrenunderfive yearsof age and seventy-nine percentof the
childrenaged six to thirteenwho were manumittedwere mulattos. Schwartz
"Manumission of Slaves in ColonialBrazil,"pp. 617, 621-622.
14. H. Hoetinkin Slaveryand Race Relationsin the Americas(New York,
1973), p. 192, has clearlyidentifiedthispreference systeminherentin all multi-
racial societies: ". . . in its mechanisms of social selection and mobility a general
preferenceis shownforindividualswho morethanotherscorrespond to the social
definition
ofracethatthedominant groupappliestoitself."
15. Notariesin colonialBuenosAiresnotedregularlycases wherewidows or
otherheirsfreedslaves in responseto the wishes of a decedent. In these cases

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS AIRES 267
In general,men freed more valuable slaves than did women. Al-
thoughthespecificoccupationsof freedmenwere givenonlyin a small
minorityof cases, male owners did free 69 of the 89 skilled artisans
freedin Buenos Airesduringthisperiod. Males were also slightlymore
likelythanwomento freeadult male slaves aged fourteento forty-five,
the mostvaluable slave cohort. While slightlyless than ten percentof
the 486 slaves freedby womenwere adult males fourteento forty-five,
fifteenpercentof the 910 slaves freed by men were fromthis group.
There was also a less clearlydefinedtendencyof male ownersto free
morethanone slave in a single act of manumission,sixty-three percent
ofthe 257 cases wheretwo or moreslaves were freed. These tendencies
were functionsof the larger slaveholdingsand greatereconomic re-
sourcesof male slaveowners.As indicatedin contemporary census rec-
ords, men were disproportionately representedamong the owners of
large slaveholdingsand were more likelyto own male slaves in their
mostproductiveyears.
Male and female ownerswho freed slaves duringthe period were
also differentiatedby the mannerin which they had come into pos-
sessionof the futuLrerecipientsof manumission.If these freedmenare
divided into two categories,those acquired by purchase and those ac-
quired by inheritanceor birthin the owner'shousehold,we find the
owner's gender directlycorrelated with the manner of acquisition.
While sixty-seven percentof the slaves freedby femaleswere inherited
or born in theirhouseholds,sixty-eight percentof the slaves freed by
males were purchased. This divergenceis best explained by the more
passive economicrole played generallyby upper-classwomen in colo-
nial Buenos Aires. Althougha substantialproportionof the city'sfree
adult female population worked regularlyand provided an important
componentof the pettycommercialand servicesectorsof the economy,
women fromthe white slaveowningclass were closely restrictedby
taboos that inhibitedtheirfullparticipationin the economy. Particu-
larlyfor those single women and widows of this class who managed
theirown households,the earningsof theirslaves were oftena major
source of income. In these cases, the labor of the slave, or slaves,pro-
vided much of the income that sustained the household and thereby
eliminatedthe need forthe femaleslaveownerto sacrificeher family's
social statusthroughdirectparticipationin the economy. In fact,it is
increasinglyclear that many slaves in Buenos Aires were acquired by

I have coded the slave as being freedby the decedent,not the heir. Although
manyof the slaves freedby womenhad been inheritedpreviously, none of the
manumissions notedhere were relatedto testamentaryrequirements.

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268 IIAB I MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

TABLE: III: Gender of Slaveownerby Form of Manumission.*

Male Female
Form N % N
Gratis 175 20.9 85 18.0
Will 100 12.0 118 25.1
Purchased* 560 67.1 268 56.9
Total 835 100 471 100
-All manumissions orderedby the civil authorities
and relatedto the defense
ofthecityhavebeenremoved.
** Purchasedmanumission includesconditionalmallumissionwheresubstantial
additionalserviceor a paymentis involved.

whitemales in high-statusoccupationsas a formof income-producing


legacy for theirfemale heirs much as the modern middle-classmale
purchaseslifeinsurance.16
The genderof the slaveownerwas closely associated with the type
of manumissiongranted. Table III displays the relationshipbetween
these two variables. Women were slightlyless apt than men to grant
a gratuitousmanumission. They were twice as likely,however, to
manumita slave, or slaves, in theirwill. This tendencyis related to
the comparativeresourcesof the two groups and does not indicate a
diminishedgenerosity.Women,overall,were less likelyto requirepay-
mentas a preconditionforfreedom.This appears to be one manifesta-
tion of the way in which the two groups acquired theirslaves. Since
women more often acquired slaves by birth in their homes or in-
heritancefromthe estate of a familymember,theyhad a longermore
personalrelationshipwiththe slave and would be less proneto demanld
paymentforfreedom. In order to test this associationthe same cross
tabulationwas run again, thistime controllingforthe formof acquisi-
tion. Even among this smallergroup of slaves, all acquired by birth
or inheritance,women ownerswere still more likelyto free the slave
without compensation,forty-sevenpercent (125), than were men,
thirty-nine percent (91), but the differencebetween the groups was
narrowedslightly.

16. In 1789, the cabildo of Buenos Airesrefusedto accept a draftconstitu-


tionfora guildof shoemakers because it excludedslavesfromthe rankof master.
In its decision,the councilnotedthatmanywidowsand singlewomenwere sus-
tainedby the wages of theirslaves and thatthe proposedexclusionwould penal-
ize these poor slaveowners;Johnson,"The Artisansof Buenos Aires duringthe
Viceroyalty, 1776-1810" (Ph.D. Diss., Universityof Connecticut,
1974), pp. 55-
56.

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS AIRES 269
TABLE IV: Age of Slave by Form of Manumission.

to 14 14-45 More than 45


Form N N N %
Purchased* 150 58.8 650 65.6 81 59.1
Gratis* 105 41.2 341 34.4 56 40.9
Total*** 255 100 991 100 137 100
* Purchasedincludes39 cases wherefreedomis made conditionalupon addi-
tionalserviceorpayments.
** Gratisincludesmanumissiongrantedin probatedwills or promisedupon
thedeathoftheowner.
*** Fifteencases where manumissionwas orderedby the civil authorities
and 82 manumissions relatedto the defenseof the cityin 1806 and 1807 have
beenremoved.

There was only a weak associationbetween the age of the slave at


manumissionand the type of manumissiongranted. Table IV illus-
trates this relationship. As would be expected children were more
likely to receive gratuitousmanumissions,forty-onepercent of the
group,but it is more importantto note that a substantialmajorityof
thisgroup,the mostlikelyrecipientsof paternalisticlargesse,bad their
freedompurchased,or in a few cases were themselvesbound to addi-
tional service. There is a strongsimilarityin the distributionof types
of manumissionsfor childrenand adults over forty-five years of age.
This was, at least partially,related to similarmarketvalues for these
two groupsofslaves.
There is no evidence thatmanumissionwas used regularlyby own-
ers in Buenos Aires to dispose of slaves who had become a financial
burden throughillness, injury,or advanced age.17 Slaves forty-six
yearsold or older received onlyten percentof the total manumissions
grantedduringthisperiod, and the majorityof these older slaves pur-
chased theirfreedom.Gratuitousmanumissionsgrantedto older slaves
account foronlyfourpercentof all manumissionsawarded. Although
therewere undoubtedlysome instanceswhere owners cynicallyfreed
slaves who were no longerable to fendforthemselves,therewere only
fivecases wherethe documentsnoted specificallythatthe slave was in

17. Suggestionsthat aged, ill, or injured slaves were manumittedin sub-


stantialnumbercan be foundin the worksof authorswho have not consulted
notarialrecords.See MarvinHarris,Patternsof Race in the Americas(New York,
1973), p. 86; Genovese,"The Treatmentof Slaves in DifferentCountries:Prob-
lems in the Applicationof the ComparativeMethod"in Laura Foner and Geno-
vese, eds., Slaveryin theNew World (EnglewoodCliffs,N.J.,1969), p. 204; and
Carl N. Degler,NeitherBlack Nor White (New York,1971), pp. 43-44.

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270 HAR I MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

poor health and in threeof these cases freedomwas purchased. It is


knownthatmanyslaves who were sick or incapacitatedin some other
way were abandoned by theirowners. The recordsof the cabildo of
Buenos Aires indicate that this happened often enough for that in-
stitutionto repeat regularlya prohibitionagainst abandoning sick or
injured slaves in the city streetsin order to limit the spread of in-
fectiousdisease. This actionby the citycouncilsuggeststhatthe aban-
donmentof weak, sick,and injuredslaves was an importantmanifesta-
tionoftheinherentcrueltyof slavery,but the data in Table IV indicate
thatthiswas not a functionof the manumissionprocess. A masterwho
would leave his slave to die in the streetwas not likely to pay the
notarialcostsrelatedto manumission.
An associationdid existbetweenthe mannerin whichthe slave was
acquired and form of manumissionreceived as Table V illustrates.
Slaves who were bornin the master'shouseholdor who were inherited
were morelikelyto receive a gratuitousmanumissionthan were slaves
who had been purchased. This relationshipprobably reflectstwo re-
lated, but distinct,phenomena. First,slaves eitherborn in the house-
hold or inheritedwere likelyto have a longer,morepersonal relation-
ship with theirowners. In a substantialnumberof cases, these slaves
were able to translatethis relationshipinto a gratuitousmanumission.
And second, the formof acquisition indicated the owner's economic
need forthe slave's labor. Slaves were usually purchased in response
to specificlabor needs in the home or business of the owner. Because
of this,the replacementvalue of the purchasedslave was an important
considerationin any manumissionagreement. As a result,the pur-
chased slave was more likelyto pay forhis freedomthan was a slave
who was bornin the householdor inherited.As the table clearlyshows,
however,these are tendenciesratherthan clear causal relationships.
One final and expected manifestationof this phenomenonis that
purchased slaves tended to be older at the time of manumissionthan
were slaves bornin the householdor inherited.Whereas 600 of the 616
purchased slaves who gained freedom were fourteenor older, only
fifty-seven percentof those who were acquired by birthor inheritance
were adults at time of manumission.It is clear that this lattergroup
enjoyed disproportionately whatever advantages could be extracted
fromthe paternalisticelementsof the institutionof slaveryas it existed
in colonialBuenos Aires.
It is worthwhileto suggest as a hypothesisforfurtherstudythat
these two groups of slaves evolved distinctivestrategiesfor acquiring
freedom.Slaves acquired throughbirthin the householdor inheritance

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS AIRES 271
TABLE V: Mannerof Acquisitionby Form of Manumission.

Purchased Born HH/inherited


Type of
Manumission N %N
Gratis* 162 26.3 227 43.2
Purchased** 454 73.7 298 56.8
Total*** 616 100 525 100
* Gratisincludesall slavesfreedwithoutpaymentin a probatedwill,or prom-
isedfreedom in will.
** Purchasedincludesconditionalmanumissions where substantialadditional
serviceis required.
*** All manumissions
orderedby civil authoritiesor related to the defense
ofthecityhavebeenremoved.

would be morelikelyto relyon the paternalisticinterestof theirown-


ers and develop those skills,habits,and behaviorsthat were favorably
evaluated withinthe limitedworld of the household. Slaves who bad
been purchased,on the otherband, were less able to manipulatethe
paternalisticelementsof the master-slaverelationshipand therefore
emphasizedthose skills,habits,and behaviorsthat could be most suc-
cessfullysold in the local marketplace.At presentthishypothesismust
remainuntestedsince the manumissiondocumentsprovide no data on
the post-manumission experiencesof these freedmen. If it is correct,
however,themoreentrepreneurial behaviorofthe purchasedslaves,or,
more correctly,the slaves who purchased theirfreedom,would prob-
ably be demonstratedby theirgreatermaterialsuccess in freedom.18
Initially,thesediffering patternsappeared to be associatedwiththe
color of the manumittedslave. As mightbe expected,a much higher
percentageof manumittedmulattoshad enteredtheirowner'shouse-
hold at birthor had been inherited.Whereas sixty-nine percentof all
manumittedNegroes had been purchased by theirowners,only forty
percentof manumittedmulattoshad been similarlyacquired. In addi-
tion,mulattoswere morelikelyto receivegratuitousmanumissionsthan
were Negroes,thirty-nine percentof all mulattoscompared to thirty-

18. Althoughno researchdirectlyalong these lines has yet been published,


a studyof freeblacksin Philadelphianotedthatblacks bornin slaveryachieved
greatermaterialsuccess and were moreactivein community life thanwere free-
bornblacks. That is, the skillsnecessaryto escape bondage were relatedto the
skillsnecessaryto achievesome success in freedom.TheodoreHershberg,"Free
Blacksin AntebellumPhiladelphia"in Allen F. Davis and Mark H. Haller,eds.,
The Peoples of Philadelphia:A Historyof EthnicGroupsand Lower-ClassLife,
1790-1940 (Philadelphia,1973), p. 125.

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272 HAEH I MAY j LYMAN L. JOIHNSON

one percent of all Negroes. Were mulattos more closely tied to a


paternalisticrewardsystem?Were theysingledout by the whiteown-
er classforpreferredtreatment?
In orderto test these possible linkages,color was cross tabulated
with formof manumission,but this time the relationshipwas con-
trolledforthe mannerin which the slave had been acquired. No di-
rectassociationbetween the color of the freedmanand formof manu-
missionexisted. A mulattoslave obtained by purchase was no more
likelythan a Negro slave similarlyacquired to receive a gratuitous
manumission. Mulattos acquired through birth or inheritancedis-
played only the slightestadvantage in securingfreedomwithoutpay-
ment. Although neither group appears to have received preferred
treatment fromthe ownerclass,therewas one importantdifferencebe-
tween mulattoand Negro adults manumittedin Buenos Aires.
Althoughdifficultto explain, among the adult slaves fourteento
forty-five,Negroes had a higherincidence of marriagethan mulattos.
While sixty-four percentof the adult mulattoswere single,sixty-eight
percentof the adult Negroes were married.19This dichotomyis also
present when the two racial groups are differentiatedby gender.
Adultmale slaves,in general,were less likelyto be marriedat the time
of manumissionthan were adult females,but a majorityof the Negro
males,fifty-two percent,were married,while seventy-six percentof the
mulattomales were single. Adult Negro femaleshad the highestinci-
dence of marriage,seventy-fivepercent. Althoughmulatto women
were more likelyto be marriedthan were mulattomen (fortypercent
of adult mulattofemales), they did not approach the incidence reg-
isteredfor Negro women. These distinctivemarriagepatternsappear
to he related to the formof acquisition. Slaves who were purchased,
usually as youngadults,were tornloose fromtheirfamilies(familyof
orientation). Even if the slave was born in Buenos Aires and simply
transferred to a differenthouseholdin the city,the emotionaland fi-
nancial supportsystemsinherentin the familywere weakened and re-
stricted.The Negro adultsin thisstudywere morelikelythanmulattos
to have experiencedthis separation. As a result,Negro adults relied
moreheavilyon the alternatekinnetworkcreatedby marriage(family
ofprocreation)thandid mulattos.

19. We currently knowlittleaboutthe demographic and social characteristics


of the slave populationin Buenos Aires. In an ongoingstudyof the census of
thecityin 1778, I foundthatNegroadultshad a slightlyhigherincidenceof mar-
percentof all adults) thandid mulattos(twenty-seven
riage (thirty-eight percent
ofall adults).

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS ARES 273
If thereis a correlationbetween these social behaviorsobservedin
the manumissiondocumentsand the attitudes,prejudices,and actions
of the dominantwhite society,it is not readily discernable. We do
know that the societywas color conscious. The nearlyuniformstate-
mentof color in the imanumission documentsreflectedwhite opinion
thatNegroes and mliulattos were distinctgroups. We don'tknow,how-
ever,ifwhitesencouragedand rewardeddifferent behaviorsin the two
groups. We can recognizethe differential m-arriagerates among freed
Negroes and mulattos,but the associationicannotbe explainedbeyond
the data on formof acquisitionprovidedin the documentation.Clear-
ly the whiteownerclass influencedthe social organizationof the slave
community,but the relationshipbetween white demands and non-
white effortsto preserveracial and culturalautonomycannotbe com-
pletelyexplained by an analysisof the manumissionprocess.
As notedin Table I, the mnostcommonfornm of manumissionin colo-
nial Buenos Airesinvolvedself-purchaseor purchase by a thiirdparty.
In a few cases the freedmanwas requiredto meet some nonionetary
obligation,such as additional service in the owner's household, as a
condition of manumission,but most often purchased manumnissions
consistedof a straightforward exchangeof cash forunencumberedfree-
dom. In Buenos Aires,therewas no associationbetween the cost of a
purchasedmanumissionand the slave's color. The genderof the slave,
however,was linked to the price of freedom. Among adult slaves in
theirprime workingyears,fourteento forty-five years old, men were
more likely to pay more than 300 pesos for manumissionthan were
women,but this tendencyis definedweakly by the data. In miiost of
these cases the male slaves were skilledcraftsmen.Amongsemiskilled
and unskilledmales, the price of manumissionwas identical to that
paid by wonmen of the same age. There was a strongassociationbe-
tweentheprice of manumissionand the age of the slave. Table VI dis-
plays the association. The moststrikingaspect of the table is the simi-
larityin price distributionsregisteredfor childrensix to thirteenand
adultsolder thanforty-five. The majorityof individualsin both groups
had limited marketvalue. By way of comparison,an adult African
slave,male or female,importedintothe citysold forapproximately 200
pesos throughoutthe period. The impositionof a value of 100 pesos
or less on nmanumission representedan attemptto extracta portionof
the owner'sexpensesformaintainingan unproductiveslave. Although
thiscan be viewed as a small amountin absolute terms,it represented
potentiallyan insurnmountable obstacle to many slaves who sought
freedomfor themselves,their spouses, or their children.

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274 HAIIR I MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

TABLE VI: AmountPaid for Manumissionby Age of Slave.

to 6 6-13 14-45 More than 45


Amount in pesos N % N % N % N %
to 99 61 71.8 17 32.1 16 2.3 31 39.2
100-199 23 27.0 20 37.7 97 13.8 29 36.7
200-299 1 1.2 13 24.5 239 34.0 17 21.5
300 or more 0 3 5.7 351 49.9 2 2.6
Total 85 100 53 100 703 100 79 100

We have currentlyno basis for comparingthe amount paid for


manumissionwiththe marketvalue of the slave. Althoughvirtuallyall
slave sales are recordedin the notarycopybooks,no systematicanalysis
exists. There is some evidence in the manumissiondocumentsthat the
slave was not requiredto pay moreforfreedomthan his marketvalue.
There were thirty-four cases wherethe alcalde intervenedon the slave's
behalfand set the price of manumissiollas the estimatedmarketvalue.
In addition,therewere seventy-twocases where the initialprice paid
for the slave by the owner is cited. In eighty-ninepercent of these
cases, the price paid formanumissionis identicalto the initialmarket
value. The thirty-four cases where slaves were forced to involve the
civil authoritiesindicated that in some instancesowners attemptedto
prevent manumissionby outrightrefusal or by the impositionof a
punitiveprice. Yet in a substantialnumberof cases, slaves were able
to purchasefreedomforthemselvesor membersof theirfamilieswhen
theyaccumulated the marketvalue of a replacement.
The prices paid for purchased manumissionsin Table VI do not
measure adequately the sacrificesmade by individual slaves, or slave
families. In order to illustratethe actual cost of freedom,the price
of manumissionwas compared with selected daily wages earned by
slaves in three broadly defined occupational categories (Table VII).
Less than ten of the slaves manumittedbetween 1776 and 1810 were
mastercraftsmencapable of earningmore than twentyreales per day.
The remainingeightyartisanswere journeymenwho generallyearned
ten reales per day. The vast majorityof adult slaves who workedout-
side their owner's household as unskilled and semiskilledworkers-
peddlers, laundresses,warehousemen,and laborers-seldom earned
morethanfourreales per day. In virtuallyall of the cases whereslaves
workedoutsidethe household,a substantialportionof the slave's earn-
ings were given directlyto the slaveowner. Beyond this,of course,the
slave expended a portionof his or her earningsforsupplementalcloth-

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS AIRES 275
TABLE VII: Cost of Manumissionin Equivalent Days of Work.

Peon Journeyman Master


Costof freedom 4 reales/day 10 reales/day 20 reales/day
50 pesos 100 days 40 days 20 days
100 pesos 200 days 80 days 40 days
200 pesos 400 days 160 days 80 days
300 pesos 600 days 240 days 120 days
Sources: AGN, Seccion Coloniial,Contaduria,Caja de Buenos Aires,Aiios
1776-1810; AGN, Seccion Colonial,Archivodel Cabildo, 1776-1810; AGN, Sec-
cion Colonial,Obras Publicas,Canal de San Fernando,1770-1808; AGN, Seccion
Colonial,Obra del Muelle,1784-1807; AGN, SeccionColonial,Obras,1805-1806;
AGN,SeccionColonial,Interior, leg. 49, exp. 11; AGN, SeccionColonial,Guerray
Marina,leg. 11, exp.24; ibid.,leg. 10, exp.23.

ing, food, and oftenhousing. The small amiountof income that re-
mained afterthese expenditureswas the source utilized to purchase
freedom.The relationshipsin Table VII, therefore, representthe most
optimisticapproximationsof the number of workingdays necessary
to accumulatethe price of manumission.Realistically,a slave earning
fourreales per day would have to work for most of his or her adult
lifebeforeaccumulating200 pesos. As a resultonlythe mostdedicated
and resourcefulslaves were able to purchase theirliberty. Slave fam-
ilies, by pooling theirresources,were able to accelerate the process
of accumulationthusconstituting an essentialpart of the manumission
process. Few slaves other than the highest-paidartisanscould have
purchased theirfreedomwithoutthe supportof theirfamilies.
As was expected, the financial resources of slave families were
crucial assetsin the effortto gain freedomforchildren. Slave families
purchased the freedom of fifty-nine percent of all children under
fourteenyears freed in Buenos Aires duringthe period studied. For
adult slaves as well, the savings of husbands,wives or parents were
oftenessential aids to freedom. In almost all cases where the slave-
ownerrequired a cash paymentfor manumission,the notaryrecorded
the source of the money. Among adult freedmen,a majorityof both
men and women were personallyresponsiblefor the cash paymentin
cases of purchasedmanumissions.Nevertheless,it is importantto note
that even in this group,the most economicallyactive portionof the
slave population,thirty-five percentof the manumissions(283) were
purchased by the familiesof the freedmen.Adult males were just as
likelyto rely on theirfamiliesfor financial assistance as were adult
females. In fact, among older slaves, forty-six years of age or older,

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276 HAHR I MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

males were more likely than their female contemporariesto require


familialassistancewhen purchasingfreedom.
Amongadult slaves therewas a two to one ratiobetweenpurchased
and gratuitousmanumissions. Since males tended to dominate the
highestpaid, most skilled occupations open to slaves, it is necessary
to explainwhy57.4 percentof the adults who purchasedfreedomwere
women. The explanationof thispatternis relatedto the kind of work
done by men and womenslaves outsidetheirowner'shousehold. Most
male slaves were placed in salaried positionsby theirownerswho had
negotiatedwages, hours,and conditionswithan employer,and in many
cases the ownerswere paid directlyfor the slave's labor. Withinthis
employmentstructure,it was difficultfor the male slave to ac-
cumulate capital. Female slaves who worked outside their owner's
householdwere participantsin a verydifferent occupationalstructure.
They were more likely to be employed in petty entrepreneurialoc-
cupationsin the city'sstreets,such as sellingfoodstuffs,
or in the service
sector,such as laundresses. Earnings generatedin these occupations
could not be as easily controlledby the slaveowner. As long as slaves
in these occupationsreturnedadequate income to theirowners,it was
possible for them to save any excess that was earned. Therefore,it
appears that a crucial variable in determiningwhethera slave could
accumulate sufficientcapital to purchase manumissionwas indepen-
dence fromthe direct supervisionof the slaveowner,not gross earn-
ing capacity. The data fromcolonial Buenos Aires suggest that the
occupationsavailable to slave women provided a greaterpotentialfor
capital accumulationthan did the occupations dominated by men.20
There were no importantalterationsin prices paid formanumission
by childrenor adult slaves over forty-five yearsof age duringthe vice-
regalperiod. The price extractedforthe freedomof a child appears to
have been influencedmore by culturaland religiouspractice than by
marketconditions.Changes in the marketdemandforlabor also appear
to have had littleimpact on the price of manumissionpaid by older
slaves. Only among slaves in theirmost productiveworkingyears is
there a relationshipbetween alterationsin the demand for labor and
the price of manumission.The data show a gradual increase in the
average price paid formanumissionby adult slaves fourteento forty-

20. There is some evidencethat the markettalentsdemonstrated by slave


womenin colonialLatin Americawere survivalsof Africantraditions.It is clear
thatslave womenplayed an important role in the local commerceof manyLatin
Americancitiesand thatthisoftenprovidedthesewomenwiththe opportunity to
acquire personalsavings. See Mary C. Karash,"Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro,
of Wisconsin,1972), p. 511.
1808-1850" (Ph.D. Diss., University

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS AIRES 277
five years of age from205 pesos in the period 1776-1780 to a high of
288 pesos in the years 1806-1810. Althoughwe can only speculate,it
seemsthatthe increasedmilitarization of the citycaused by the British
threatdisruptedthe supply of free labor and caused a slightinflation
in the marketprice of tlhisportionof the slave population. This change
was thenreflectedin the price paid formanumission.
Therewere some importantchangesin theincidenceofmanumission
and in the types of manumissiongranted duringthe period studied.
Table VIII illustratesthesecharacteristics.More thanhalfof the slaves
grantedfreedomduringthe viceregalperiod receivedtheirlibertydur-
ingthefinaldecade. This figureis formanumissionsnot directlyrelated
to thedefenseof Buenos Airesduringtwo Britishinvasions. Eighty-four
additional slaves were granted freedomas a result of their heroism
against the British. Clearly,the incidence of manumissionincreased
morerapidlythan did the size of the slave population. It is difficultto
fixpreciselythenumberof slaves residentin the cityduling thisperiod.
The city censuses of 1778 and 1810 remain the best sources for this
information but presentus withmajor difficulties.The data collection
in both censuseswas oftenunsystematicand biased. In addition,por-
tionsof the 1810 censushave been lost. Finally,the manumittedslaves
tended to be American-bornwith long-establishedresidence in the
city. The slaves enumeratedin the censuses include large numbersof
slaves in transitto the interior,or residentforshortperiods with mas-
terswho were temporarilylocated in the city. Therefore,to associate
the numberof manumissionswiththe actual residentslave population
of Buenos Aires by using the censuses is problematical. Nevertheless,
a roughapproximationcan be attempted. If the actual residentslave
populationin 1778 is estimatedat 4,612, less than 0.4 percentof that
population annually gained freedomthroughmanumission.By 1810,
when the permanentslave population had increased to approximately
8,432, 1.3 percentof the slaves received manumissionannually.21 Al-
though both figuresrepresenta very small proportionof the slave
population,this threefoldincrease in the rate of manumissionis note-
worthy.
The augmentedincidenceof manumissionshould not be viewed as

21. The total slave populationfoundin the 1778 census is 5,125. For this
calculation,it is estimatedthatten percentof this totalwere not permanent, or
long-term residentsof the city. Facultad de Filosofiay Letras,Documentospara
la historiaargentina,vol. XI: Territorio padro'nde la ciudad de Bulenos
y poblacio'n,
Aires,1778 (Buenos Aires,1919), passim. The totalslave populationin 1810 was
9,369. Ten percentof thetotalwas removedto producethe estimatedpermanent
slave population.Garcia Belsunceet al., BuienosAires: Su gente.

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278 HAHR I MAY I LYMAN L. JOHNSON

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MANUMISSION IN COLONIAL BUENOS AIRES 279
an indicationthat slaveryhad outlived its usefulnessin the city, or
that the portefiosof the late colonial period were moved by humani-
tarian considerationsto free theirslaves. Table IV demonstratesthat
gratuitousmanumissionswere proportionatelyless importantat the
end of the colonial period than earlier. Purchased manumissionsbe-
came more common,and the number of manumissionsincreased, as
the earningcapacityof the slave populationincreased. Greatervolume
of shippingin the port, augmented trade with the interior,and re-
sultant increases in service-sectoremploymentall combined to give
slaves increased access to money. As monetaryrelationshipsbetween
slaves and mastersbecame more important,paternalisticinterestdi-
minished and the proportionof gratuitousmanumissionsdecreased.
Nevertheless,slaves gained improved opportunitiesfor manumission
because of theirincreased earning capacity.
The resultsof this studyof manumissionin colonial Buenos Aires
are in general agreementwith the resultsof similarstudies of manu-
missionin otherLatin Americancities. Similar segmentsof the slave
population (women, children,and mulattos) were representeddis-
proportionately in the manumissionprocessin all of the locales studied
so far. Earlier historians,
utilizingtravelers'accounts,cenlsusmaterials,
and governmentreports,had noticed this apparent bias but had at-
tributedit incorrectlyto owner paternityof slave childrenand to a
rewardsystemassociated withconcubinage. It is now clear that these
characteristicsof the manumittedare better explained by relative
levels of acculturationin the dominantsociety,slave replacementcosts
as measured by the marketplace,occupational opportunitiesavailable
to the slave population,and the abilityof individualslaves and slave
familiesto accumulate savings. In addition,in the Buenos Aires case
the characteristicsof those manumitted (gender, color, and age)
changed and the incidence of manumissionincreased in response to
alterationsin the regional economy. Finally, it is evident that the
initiativeof individual slaves and their families was crucial to the
manumissionprocess. Althoughsome slaves benefitedfromthe pater-
nalisticconcernof theirowners and received freedomwithoutmone-
tarycost, these slaves tended to be drawn fromthe small minorityof
slaves who had been born in theirowners'households. The majority
of slaves manumittedin Buenos Aires purchased theirfreedom,and
for these slaves the ability to earn and save money was more im-
portantthan the generosityof the slaveownerin determiningaccess to
freedom.

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