Africans Fight to Overcome Stereotypes in Colonial Latin America
In the early 1500’s Africans began arriving in Latin America to fill the need for labor. The labor required of the African people varied from domestic help in the large cities to field work in the rural areas. From country to country in Latin America slavery had a different look. In the case of some African slaves, especially in the city areas, they were often treated with more respect and were able to eventually buy their freedom or gain access to rights that only Spaniards and some Native Americans had. Often, this was not able to be achieved by slaves that worked on plantations. Despite having different types of labor required of slaves with African descent, there is still …show more content…
It can be argued that they were not allowed to carry a weapon because fear of the Spanish being attacked or overthrown by a large group. But this idea that they would attack because the Africans had weapons was based on the stereotypes of Africans being violent and aggressive. This can be show by viewing the license documents to obtain the right to carry a weapon. In this document a male of African descent is receiving a license to carry a sword and dagger to use for defense. What is striking about this document is the way that it describes the male. It describes him as, “Juan Santiago, mulato, who is quiet and peaceful”. This quote can be found similarly in this license granted to Juan Sardina, a man of African descent is described as “a quiet, virtuous man”. These weapon licenses documents are very short in nature and it is significant that they include a statement about how the male of African descent behaves. These men were able to gain these licenses to have a weapon for protection and prove they were not the stereotype of being the opposite of quiet, peaceful, and virtuous. Although these men could not change their status by gaining the license they were able to overcome the legal stereotypes that were put in place to keep them from being able to carry a weapon just like a Spaniard could. This was just one thing that males of African descent could do to and it allowed for them to show the governing officials that they were worthy of having a basic right to bear
In the early 1500’s Africans began arriving in Latin America to fill the need for labor. The labor required of the African people varied from domestic help in the large cities to field work in the rural areas. From country to country in Latin America slavery had a different look. In the case of some African slaves, especially in the city areas, they were often treated with more respect and were able to eventually buy their freedom or gain access to rights that only Spaniards and some Native Americans had. Often, this was not able to be achieved by slaves that worked on plantations. Despite having different types of labor required of slaves with African descent, there is still …show more content…
It can be argued that they were not allowed to carry a weapon because fear of the Spanish being attacked or overthrown by a large group. But this idea that they would attack because the Africans had weapons was based on the stereotypes of Africans being violent and aggressive. This can be show by viewing the license documents to obtain the right to carry a weapon. In this document a male of African descent is receiving a license to carry a sword and dagger to use for defense. What is striking about this document is the way that it describes the male. It describes him as, “Juan Santiago, mulato, who is quiet and peaceful”. This quote can be found similarly in this license granted to Juan Sardina, a man of African descent is described as “a quiet, virtuous man”. These weapon licenses documents are very short in nature and it is significant that they include a statement about how the male of African descent behaves. These men were able to gain these licenses to have a weapon for protection and prove they were not the stereotype of being the opposite of quiet, peaceful, and virtuous. Although these men could not change their status by gaining the license they were able to overcome the legal stereotypes that were put in place to keep them from being able to carry a weapon just like a Spaniard could. This was just one thing that males of African descent could do to and it allowed for them to show the governing officials that they were worthy of having a basic right to bear