Sugar, Slavery, and Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico

301 Pages·2005·1.06 MB·English

by  Luis A. Figueroa

sugar, slavery, & freedom in
nineteenth-century
puerto rico

The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill
, ,   
-
 
[ ]
Luis A. Figueroa
∫ 2005 the university of north carolina press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designed by Kimberly Bryant
Set in Minion by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Sugarcane ornament from North Wind Picture Archives.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Figueroa, Luis A. (Luis Antonio)
Sugar, slavery, and freedom in nineteenth-century
Puerto Rico / Luis A. Figueroa.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8078-2949-8 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn 0-8078-5610-x (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Slavery—Puerto Rico—Guayama Region—History—19th
century. 2. Slaves—Emancipation—Puerto Rico—Guayama
Region—History—19th century. 3. Freedmen—Puerto Rico—
Guayama Region—History—19th century. 4. Labor supply—
Puerto Rico—Guayama Region—History—19th century.
5. Plantation workers—Puerto Rico—Guayama Region—
History—19th century. 6. Sugarcane industry—Puerto Rico—
Guayama Region—History—19th century. 7. Puerto Rico—
Race relations—History—19th century. I. Title.
ht1089.g83f54 2005
306.3%62%0972958—dc22 2005017471
cloth 09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1
paper 09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1
contents
Introduction 1
[ 1 ] Racial Projects and Racial Formations
in a Frontier Caribbean Society 15
[ 2 ] The Hurricane of Sugar and Slavery and
the Broken Memories It Left Behind,
1810s–1860s 43
[ 3 ] Seeking Freedom before Abolition:
Strategies of Adaptive Resistance among
Afro-Guayameses 79
[ 4 ] The Gale-Force Winds of 1868–1873:
Tearing Down Slavery 105
[ 5 ] The Contested Terrain of ‘‘Free’’ Labor,
1873–1876 121
[ 6 ] Labor Mobility, Peonization, and the
Peasant Way That Never Was 151
[ 7 ] Conflicts and Solidarities on the Path
to Proletarianization 175
Conclusion 201
Notes 211
Bibliography 249
Index 277
This page intentionally left blank
tables
[2.1] Population of Puerto Rico by Race and Legal Status,
1776–1898 48
[2.2] Changes in Geographical Distribution of Slavery in Puerto
Rico: Top Fifteen Slaveholding Municipios in 1828, 1854,
and 1865 54
[2.3] Guayama’s Population by Race and Legal Status, 1776–1899 58
[2.4] Landholding and Agricultural Production in Ponce (1845)
and Guayama (1842) 61
[2.5] Average Sugar Plantations of Guayama (1866), Ponce (1845),
Guadeloupe (1830s), and Louisiana (1850) 64
[2.6] Profile of Guayama’s Sugar Haciendas in 1866 68
[2.7] Coerced and Enslaved Labor in Puerto Rico’s Top Three
Slaveholding Municipios: Jornaleros and Slaves in 1865 76
[3.1] Free Manumissions and Paid Coartaciones in Guayama,
1860–1872 86
[5.1] Results of the First Forced-Labor Contracting of Freed Slaves
in Puerto Rico, December 1873 128
[5.2] Age Distribution of Libertos Contracted in Guayama, 1873 130
[5.3] Occupational Distribution of Guayama’s Ex-Slaves in 1873
Compared to That of Slaves in 1871 132
[5.4] Occupational Mobility of Guayama’s Ex-Slaves in 1873 133
[5.5] Guayama’s Liberto Contracts by Number of Contracts
and Type of Employer, 1873 134
[6.1] Land Tenure in Guayama by Barrio and Farm Size, 1885 158
[6.2] Land Tenure in Guayama by Barrio and Farm Size, 1898 160

sugar, slavery, & freedom in
nineteenth-century
puerto rico