Manumission In Colonial Latin America

In a time before the landing of Europeans in Brazil and greater Southern America, Indigenous tribes were living their own lifestyles that did include slavery, but it was the defeated tribes who played the role. If they were not chosen for sacrifice by the triumphant tribe, they would be enslaved and ordered to work for the new group. It was not until the European settlers arrived and began enslaving the natives to help them build their new colony that things began going wrong. For slaves, freedom could have meant more than one thing. With a new means of granting freedom to slaves known as Manumission, slaves were stuck relying on owners just as much as the owners were tied to their slaves. “They knew that, in the short run at least, the former

The creation and use of Manumission in Colonial Latin America brought to the front the major dependency that laid between “freed” Indian slaves and their masters. Awaiting sometimes Tens of years in postponement and having to clear every restriction allocated by the Manumission, almost free, men and women found themselves trapped in a semi-free state. No longer to be placed under slave punishments or trial, allowed to purchase property, could not be returned to slavery and was in a legal sense, considered a full legal person. However, owners were able to skew this law and use delays and restrictions to route the freed people in a different direction. Delays in complete employment and exercises of freedom would be one of the main ways masters were able to do this. Without any income, the freed slaves could not purchase any property they were legally allowed to buy. Many turned and returned to work for their original masters, manipulated and threatened; it was hard for them to find any other way out. “Very few slaves saw their dreams of freedom come true.” (Querios, 177). This clearly shows Manumission to be one of the key contributors to the sustenance of Colonial

When a slave was “freed” by his or her master, they would be placed in a social status where not much of anything was easily accomplished. This led to a decline in the number of Indian slaves working on Brazilian plantations and increased the number of African slaves that would have to be imported in surplus to accommodate. Slaves in from Africa were able to be manumitted as well but the process was much longer and most were not informed of their rights. “Slaves born in Africa, however had to undergo a lengthy naturalization procedure…” (Querios, 178). As more and more Indian slaves were manumitted, the number of imported slaves kept increasing which decreased the chance that a black slave would be freed. This created a cycle that allowed major growth in the economy forcing the “freed” slaves back to work for their owners no longer as slaves, while the institution continued to grow the slave trade