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From the 1520s through the 1580s, thousands of African slaves fled
captivity in Spanish Panama and formed their own communities in the
interior of the isthmus. African Maroons in Sixteenth-Century
Panama, a primary source reader, edited by Robert C. Schwaller,
documents this marronage in the context of five decades of African
resistance to slavery. The self-sufficiency of the Maroons, along
with their periodic raids against Spanish settlements, sparked
armed conflict as Spaniards sought to conquer the maroon
communities and kill or re-enslave their populations. After decades
of struggle, Maroons succeeded in negotiating a peace with Spanish
authorities and establishing the first two free Black towns in the
Americas. The little-known details of this dramatic history emerge
in these pages, traced through official Spanish accounts, reports,
and royal edicts, as well as excerpts from several English sources
that recorded alliances between Maroons and English privateers in
the region. The contrasting Spanish and English accounts reveal
Maroons' attempts to turn European antagonism to their advantage;
and, significantly, several accounts feature direct testimony from
Maroons. Most importantly, this reader includes translations of the
first peace agreements made between a European empire and African
Maroons, and the founding documents of the free-Black communities
of Santiago del PrIncipe and Santa Cruz la Real-the culmination of
the first successful African resistance movement in the Americas.
Schwaller has translated all the documents into English and
presents each with a short introduction, thorough annotations, and
full historical, cultural, and geographical context, making this
volume accessible to undergraduate students while remaining a
unique document collection for scholars.
On December 19, 1554, the members of Tenochtitlan's indigenous
cabildo, or city council, petitioned Emperor Charles V of Spain for
administrative changes 'to save us from any Spaniard, mestizo,
black, or mulato afflicting us in the marketplace, on the roads, in
the canal, or in our homes.' Within thirty years of the conquest,
the presence of these groups in New Spain was large enough to
threaten the social, economic, and cultural order of the indigenous
elite. In Generos de Gente in Early Colonial Mexico, an ambitious
rereading of colonial history, Robert C. Schwaller proposes using
the Spanish term gEneros de gente (types or categories of people)
as part of a more nuanced perspective on what these categories of
difference meant and how they evolved. His work revises our
understanding of racial hierarchy in Mexico, the repercussions of
which reach into the present. Schwaller traces the connections
between medieval Iberian ideas of difference and the unique
societies forged in the Americas. He analyzes the ideological and
legal development of generos de gente into a system that began to
resemble modern notions of race. He then examines the lives of
early colonial mestizos and mulatos to show how individuals of
mixed ancestry experienced the colonial order. By pairing an
analysis of legal codes with a social history of mixed-race
individuals, his work reveals the disjunction between the
establishment of a common colonial language of what would become
race and the ability of the colonial Spanish state to enforce such
distinctions. Even as the colonial order established a system of
governance that entrenched racial differences, colonial subjects
continued to mediate their racial identities through social
networks, cultural affinities, occupation, and residence.
Presenting a more complex picture of the ways difference came to be
defined in colonial Mexico, this book exposes important tensions
within Spanish colonialism and the developing social order. It
affords a significant new view of the development and social
experience of race - in early colonial Mexico and afterward.
On December 19, 1554, the members of Tenochtitlan's indigenous
cabildo, or city council, petitioned Emperor Charles V of Spain for
administrative changes ""to save us from any Spaniard, mestizo,
black, or mulato afflicting us in the marketplace, on the roads, in
the canal, or in our homes."" Within thirty years of the conquest,
the presence of these groups in New Spain was large enough to
threaten the social, economic, and cultural order of the indigenous
elite. In Generos de Gente in Early Colonial Mexico, an ambitious
rereading of colonial history, Robert C. Schwaller proposes using
the Spanish term generos de gente (types or categories of people)
as part of a more nuanced perspective on what these categories of
difference meant and how they evolved. His work revises our
understanding of racial hierarchy in Mexico, the repercussions of
which reach into the present. Schwaller traces the connections
between medieval Iberian ideas of difference and the unique
societies forged in the Americas. He analyzes the ideological and
legal development of generos de gente into a system that began to
resemble modern notions of race. He then examines the lives of
early colonial mestizos and mulatos to show how individuals of
mixed ancestry experienced the colonial order. By pairing an
analysis of legal codes with a social history of mixed-race
individuals, his work reveals the disjunction between the
establishment of a common colonial language of what would become
race and the ability of the colonial Spanish state to enforce such
distinctions. Even as the colonial order established a system of
governance that entrenched racial differences, colonial subjects
continued to mediate their racial identities through social
networks, cultural affinities, occupation, and residence.
Presenting a more complex picture of the ways difference came to be
defined in colonial Mexico, this book exposes important tensions
within Spanish colonialism and the developing social order. It
affords a significant new view of the development and social
experience of race - in early colonial Mexico and afterward.
The History of the New World is an abridged, unique English
translation of sixteenth-century Italian merchant Girolamo
Benzoni’s popular account of his adventures in the Americas and
the Spanish colonies. First published in Venice in 1565,
Benzoni’s book was an immediate best seller and available in at
least five languages before the end of the century. It spanned the
years 1541–56, providing detailed descriptions of native flora
and fauna, exciting narration of harrowing exploits, and a
surprisingly critical perspective on the expanding Spanish
Empire’s methods of conquest and governance, in which Benzoni
highlighted the struggles of indigenous peoples. This edition
follows the three-book structure of the original account but
focuses on Benzoni’s own experiences, omitting episodes to which
he was not a witness and excising repetition and hyperbolic
hearsay. The first English-language version published since 1847,
this volume includes an informative introduction and annotations
that situate Benzoni and his fascinating writings in the larger
context of Spanish colonial conquest. Perfect for classroom use,
this is a lively, vivid firsthand account of the adventure and
wonder of the New World.
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