Marriage Among Slaves in Eighteenth-Century Puerto Rico" (2014)

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The Family Tree is Not Cut: Marriage Among Slaves in Eighteenth- Century Puerto Rico

David Stark Grand Valley State University

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ScholarWorks Citation Stark, David, "The Family Tree is Not Cut: Marriage Among Slaves in Eighteenth-Century Puerto Rico" (2014). Peer Reviewed Articles. 18. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/hst_articles/18

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THE FAMILY TREE IS NOT CUT: MARRIAGE AMONG SLAVES IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PUERTO RICO

A people withoutthe knowledge of theirpast history, origin and cultureis like a treewithout roots. MarcusGarvey

The frequencyand natureof slave marriagesin PuertoRico has long been a subjectof controversy.Scholars including Luis Diaz Soler (1953:174) affirm thatmarriages were not only commonbut, more importantly, that owners, alongwith religious and civilauthorities, encouraged marriage and family life among slaves throughoutthe colonial period. This served as a means of increasingthe number of enslavedlaborers on theisland withouthaving to relyon theintroduction of Africanslaves. Using nineteenth-centurycensus recordsand otherarchival sources, James Wessman (1980:288), JamesL. Dietz (1986:39), and Pedro San Miguel (1988:86) have refutednotions that civil and religiousauthorities alike soughtto promoteslave marriages.These same scholarshave also castdoubt on theactual number of formal unions that occurred.Since then,the assumption has been thatmarriage among slaves in thisCaribbean island was notcommon and thatslaves wereunable to establish linksof associationor ties of kinshipeither within the structureof the dominantsociety or outsideof it. Unlikeother areas of LatinAmerica, many documentsin PuertoRico relatingto thefirst centuries of Spanishcoloniza- tionhave disappeared(Silvestrini & de CastroArroyo 1981:157), makingit difficultto assess thesedimensions of slave life.1Because of thescarcity of primarysources from the colonial period, slaves have oftenbeen perceived as a people withouta reconstructablepast.

1. Thedeficiency ofprimary sources for the study of Puerto Rico's colonial period is theresult of various events. "Archives of the jurisdictional office of Puerto Rico at the Audienciade SantoDomingo were lost, the city of San Juan was burned by the Dutch in 1625,[and] the Archivo Histórico suffered a fire in 1929"(Silvestrini & de Castro Arroyo:157).

NewWest Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids vol 76no. 1 & 2 (2002):23-46

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The use ofa methodknown as familyreconstitution is the key to fillingthis gap in ourunderstanding of colonialPuerto Rico. Familyreconstitution, which is based mostlyon parishregisters, consists of two stages(Knodel 1988:3). The firstinvolves linking together births (baptisms), marriages, and deaths (burials)to formfamily groups consisting of a marriedcouple and theirchil- dren.The secondstage entails computing measures of demographicbehavior, suchas birthand deathrates. However, the family reconstitution I have used is limitedto thefirst stage and is notthe classic formdeveloped by Louis Henry, et al.2 1 use parishbaptismal, marriage, and deathregisters surviving from the agriculturallyand geographicallydiverse island communitiesof Arecibo (1708-57),Caguas (1731-1804),Coamo (1755-1800),and Yauco (1751-90) to reconstructthe vital statisticsof individualslaves, theirfamilies, and their ownersover several generations. In orderto followslaves, their families, and theirowners, who mayhave movedto communitiesadjacent to ones selected forthis study, I consulted,whenever possible, surviving parish registers from borderingcommunities.3 In thisway, I was able to document237 marriages in whichone or bothspouses is a slave. Withthis information, I will discuss the frequencyof slave marriagein the eighteenth-centurycommunities to determinewhether it was higherthan in thenineteenth-century communities examinedby Wessmanand San Miguel,or by Dietz. The data setthat I com- piled also enabledme to ascertainwith whom, at whatage, and at whattimes of the year slaves most frequentlymarried. These data will allow me to demonstratethat marriage among slaves was notuncommon and thatthey had a familyhistory - a reconstructablepast - muchlike the rest of society. This articleis dividedinto several parts. My strategyis to providefirst a historicalframework for understanding economic conditions that shaped the island's slavery,then to examineslavery within the context of thework regi-

2. Myuse of family reconstitution andgenealogy as a toolfor social history is based uponthe recent work of Fernando Picó. 3. I havereconstituted theoldest marriage and death registers ( 1750-84) for La Tuna, knownas Isabela,a communitylocated on the island's north coast, and east of Arecibo. Additionally,I have reconstituted theoldest baptismal (1763-98), marriage (1771-1800), anddeath (1764-1800) registers for Río Piedras as wellas theoldest baptismal and mar- riageregisters (1773-1810) for Santurce. Both of these communities are located in the vicinityof San Juan, and north of Caguas. Furthermore, I have also reconstituted theold- estmarriage and death registers for both Juana Díaz (1787-1805) and Cayey (1776-1800), inaddition to the oldest death register for Guayama (1746-81). Once part of Coamo, these communitiesnow border Coamo on its eastern and western flanks, respectively. Finally, I havereconstituted SanGermán' s oldest marriage (1759-74) and death (1762-74) registers.This community borders Yauco on itswestern flank. The inclusionof material obtainedfrom surviving parish registers inbordering communities allowed me to create a muchmore complete and statistically significant database than is typicallypossible employingthe standard techniques offamily reconstitution.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Marriageamong Slaves inEighteenth-Century Puerto Rico 25 mensand materialconditions of lifeassociated with Puerto Rico's eighteenth- centuryagricultural economy. I continuewith a briefoverview of the religious contextand social implicationsof marriageamong slaves. Then, I will look at the examples of Pedro and Franciscaand Lázaro and Agustina,two slave couples marriedin thesouthern coastal communityof Coamo on December 29, 1793,in orderto providegreater insight into spousal selection patterns as well as theimpact of theliturgical and theagricultural calendars upon the sea- sonalityof slave marriage.4Finally, I will explorethe ways in whichslaves pursuedmarital strategies in orderthat they might manipulate material condi- tionsof lifewithin the constraints of slavery.Many slaves in PuertoRico during theeighteenth century not only asserted their humanity by marryingbut also createdviable patterns of familylife that we can reconstruct.

The Agricultural Economy in Puerto Rico, 1508-1800

The institutionof slaveryin theCaribbean was shapedby uniquecultural and economicforces. Some Spanishcolonies including Puerto Rico experienced an initialcycle of sugar and slaverythat began in the 1540s. The Spanish Crownencouraged the rise of sugarcultivation through grants and loans,and theproduction of this commodity was initiallylucrative. However, sugar pro- ductionin PuertoRico declinedfollowing the attack on and subsequentbrief occupationof San Juanin thesummer of 1598 by an Englishfleet under the commandof thethird Earl of Cumberland.All ginger,hides, and sugarin the cityand surroundingcountryside were seized as booty.Cumberland made off with2,000 slaves and 200,000 poundsof sugar,and PuertoRico's agricultural economynever recovered. In theyear 1600, severalyears after the attack, the Spanish Crown orderedthat monies be distributedamong the island's sugarmill owners and that200 Africanslaves be introducedon theisland as a compensationfor the losses sustained(Moscoso 1999:75). However,these concessionswere not immediately implemented. This, along withrestrictive trade policies associated with mercantilism,such as those requiringall Spanishcolonies to tradeexclusively with Seville using Spanish ships and merchants,limited opportunities for legal tradeand was disastrousfor the island'ssugar industry. Spanishmercantilist policies fostered an increasein smugglingby British, Dutch, and Frenchtraders and, even more harmfulfor Spanish trade,in piracy.This occurredprecisely at the same time thatproduction of sugar beganin thenon-Hispanic Caribbean during the 1630s and 1640s.As a result, thefocus of PuertoRico's agriculturaleconomy was graduallytransformed

4. ArchivoParroquial San Blas de Coamo(APSBC), Primer libro de matrimonios: 1778-98,folios 150-50V.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 26 DavidStark fromone based on the produceof sugarplantations to one based on cattle ranchingand the productionof foodstuffs.For nearlya century,beginning around1675, these pursuits, together with the export of hides,dyewoods and hardwoods,along withthe cultivationof tobacco and cottonbecame the island'sprincipal economic activities (Moscoso 1999:98-100). If we look at thegeography of the Caribbean economy from 1675 to 1765, twodistinct zones emerge.The firstconsists of theplantation zones, or sugar islands,of the non-HispanicCaribbean; the second comprisesthe provider colonies of the Spanish Caribbean includingPuerto Rico. The provider colonies supplieddraft animals and foodstuffsfor slaves needed to support sugarproduction elsewhere, as describedby Picó (1986:94), González Vales (1990:120), and GiustiCordero (1993:6 and 22). Withfew legal outletsfor theirgoods, plantersand ranchersthroughout the island were increasingly drawninto the complex web of intra-Caribbeancontraband trade. In effect, therewere two PuertoRican economies:legal and illegal. Legal tradewith Spain or Spanish colonies was practicallynon-existent, a factthat has led some scholarssuch as López Cantos (1975:93 and 127) and morerecently Padilla (1985:108) to conclude that the island's economic development reached its nadir at this time. Notwithstanding,an illegal trade thrived. Livestock,dyewoods and timber,and foodstuffswere exchanged with adja- centislands in thenon-Hispanic Caribbean for clothing, iron tools, and slaves. After1765, Puerto Rican agricultureentered a periodof rapidexpansion. This resultedfrom the easing of traderestrictions, the liberalizationof the slave trade,and theinflux of moniesearmarked for the construction of mili- taryfortifications in San Juan(Bergad 1983:4-12).These factorswere instru- mentalin layingthe foundationfor the subsequentrise of labor-intensive exportagriculture, especially sugar. Through the dawn of thenineteenth century,Puerto Rico's agriculturaleconomy had requiredfew slaves, causing sugarplanters and slaveryto be relegatedto a largelyperipheral role in the island'spredominantly rural economy. Yet as sugarproduction came to dom- inatethe agricultural landscape, especially between 1820 and 1845,the institutionof slaveryon theisland was againtransformed, since the production of thiscommodity came to occupya prominentrole in theagricultural economy.

Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Puerto Rico

Scholars,including Higman (1984:362, 374, and 396) and Bush (1990:37), havedemonstrated that slaves' chances of survival were better when and where sugarproduction was notthe principal economic activity. Thus, better treatment of slavesand more stable family structures than those of the nineteenth century probablyprevailed among slave populationsin PuertoRico fornearly a century,beginning around 1675. In theseyears, the island entered a periodof mini-

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Marriageamong Slaves inEighteenth-Century Puerto Rico 27 mal economicstress, providing greater opportunity for slaves to marryand establishfamily lives. Access to gardenplots as well as theright to marketany surplusin exchangefor other goods or forspecie may have promoted marriage notonly among slaves, but also betweenslaves and free persons. Owners often setaside time, and sometimeseven designated a specificday, for slaves to work on theseplots of land (Mintz 1984:204). Where slaves received rations and had access to provisiongrounds, they usually benefitted from a healthierand more varieddiet (Diaz Soler 1953:161; Cabanillasde Rodríguez1973:358; López Cantos1985:151). More importantly,slaves were permitted to bequeathfreely theright to continueto cultivatea certainpiece ofland for as longas theowner permittedthat land to be cultivated(Mintz 1984:209). Accordingto Sidney Mintz(1984:192), "theslave witha betterdiet, a smallsource of income,and a feelingof proprietorship in land was less discontented,less likelyto run away, and less dangerousas a potentialrebel." To this,I would also add thatslaves weremore likely to marryand/or form a family. Duringthe late seventeenth and earlyto mid-eighteenthcentury, sugar pro- ductionwas largelyconfined to San Juan,and distinctagricultural regimes evolvedon eitherside of the Cordillera Central, which bisects the island. Animal husbandryand cattleranching were combined with the export of hidesin communitiessuch as Areciboand Caguas to thenorth of themountain ridge, and withthe export of dyewoods and hardwoods or other cash cropslike tobacco or cottonin communitiessuch as Coamo andYauco to thesouth. I haverecreated thecontours of adultslave ownershipas well as dataon theminimum levels of slaveimportation into these geographically diverse communities, with the infor- mationgathered through family reconstitution. Variables such as ownershipand importationinfluenced the likelihood of marriageand family formation among enslavedpopulations. Butfirst a fewcomments on theavailability of historical records and demo- graphicdata on slaveryin PuertoRico. Such informationis limited:only one manuscriptcensus, a householdcensus conductedfor San Juanin the year 1673,survives from the seventeenth century.5 No othercensus was undertaken forSan Juan- or,for that matter, for the island - until1765. Whilethis census providesinformation on theage structureof theisland's free population, itdoes notfor the slave population.Annual censuses were conducted from the years1779 through1802, with the exclusion of the year 1796. However,these do notlist the age structureof theisland's freeor slave population.Notarial recordsfrom this period are also scarce,as are willsand otherprimary sources whichwould enable us to establishthe size and/ordistribution of slave popu-

5. ArchivoGeneral de Indias(AGI), Sevilla, Censos de población,Sección Santo Domingo173, Ramo IV, ff. 838-852v., "Padrón del año 1673 de laspersonas que hay en la ciudadde SanJuan de PuertoRico." A completetranscription ofthis census appears inDavid M. Stark& Teresade Castro Sedgwick 1997.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 28 DavidStark lationsin island communitiesat any pointbetween the years 1673 through 1765. Therefore,it has been difficultfor scholars to reconstructthe demographyof slaves. Patternsof slave ownershipin areas suchas Arecibo,the island's leader in animal husbandry,cattle ranching, and the exportof hides, differedfrom thoseobserved in communitiessuch as Coamo. In Coamo, wherefoodstuffs were grownalong withtobacco, cotton,and latercoffee, the agricultural economywas morelabor intensive. There were few slaves in areas alongthe northerncoast of theisland, including Arecibo and Caguas, because economic pursuitssuch as animal husbandry,and the harvestof dyewoods and hardwoods,did notrequire a largelabor force. Furthermore, owners lacked sufficientcapital for the purchase of additionalenslaved labor. The lives of slaves in thesecommunities were probably less heavilyregimented and dis- ciplinedthan they were in areasalong the southern coast of the island, includ- ingCoamo andYauco, wherethe cultivation of coffee and tobaccowas labor- intensiveand thesizes of slave holdingswere larger. The effectsof lowerlabor requirements are clearlydiscernable in thesize of the slave populationsand holdings- both were smallerin Arecibo and Caguas. For example, slave holdingsin Arecibo duringthe years 1708 through1757 werequite small,with an averagesize of threeadult slaves in additionto any childrenthey might have.6 Similar slave ownershippatterns prevailedin Caguas; thatis, therewere manyowners with few slaves and, conversely,few owners with many slaves. The slave populationin thatcom- munityduring the years 1730 through1765 was indeedamong the island's smallest,with the averagesize of holdingsbeing only two adultslaves and anychildren they might have. Only a handfulof masters in thesecommunities possessedten or moreslaves (Stark1999:128 and 133).7 In contrast,the agricultural regime was morelabor intensive in commu- nitiesto thesouth of the Cordillera Central, such as Coamo andYauco, owing to theproduction of cash cropsincluding tobacco, cotton, and coffee.The dis- tributionof slave ownershipin Coamo reflectsa slightalbeit important dif-

6. Adultslaves, for the purposes of this study, include spouses of an individual inthe records,parents, godparents, witnesses, and, of course, baptized adults mentioned inthe parishregisters. 7. Thelargest slave holding in Arecibo during the years 1708 through 1757 was that of Antoniode los Reyes Correa and consisted of at least fifteen slaves. Correa was arguably northwesternPuerto Rico's most powerful economic and political figure. Not only was he theteniente a guerra , or "all-encompassing civil and military leader," of Arecibo from 1700through 1743, he was also a militaryhero who, in the fall of 1702, was awarded a life- timepension for his role in spearheading thesuccessful defense of the community against a Britishattack earlier that same year. The largest slave holding in Caguas during the years 1730through 1765 was that of Tomás Díaz, the teniente a guerra in that community during the1750s, and it consisted of at least eleven slaves.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Marriageamong Slaves inEighteenth-Century Puerto Rico 29 ferencein theregional intensity of theisland's agricultural regime. For example, the average size of holdingsin Coamo duringthe years 1755 through 1800 was fouradult slaves and anychildren they might have. Coamo also had thegreatest number of ownerswith ten or moreslaves.8 The concentrationof slaves on largerholdings probably indicates greater reliance on thecommer- cial productionof cash crops. AlthoughYauco emergedas one of theisland's leadersin thecultivation of tobaccoand cottonin thelatter half of theeighteenth century, the average size of slave holdingsin thiscommunity during the years 1751 through1790 averagedonly threeadult slaves and any childrenthey might have (Stark 1999:139 and 143). The largestslave holdingson theisland were located in the sugar-growingarea concentratedin San Juanand its surroundingcom- munities.Here, we finda handfulof sugarplantations worked by up to 200 slaves (Bergad 1983:5).9 While slave ownershipthroughout the island was common,few owners possessed ten or moreslaves. Tradein slaves flourishedas longas sugarproduction remained profitable forplanters on theisland, but levels of slave trafficto PuertoRico declined in theearly seventeenth century following the near collapse of sugarproduction.Portuguese traders were the major providersof Africanslaves to the HispanicCaribbean. They traffickedin slaves fromthe Congo and theGold Coast. Dutchtraders gradually assumed a moreactive role in theintroduction ofAfrican slaves to PuertoRico in thewaning years of theseventeenth century(Picó 1986:105; Morales Carrion1995:66-7). Consequently,there was an influxof slaves fromthe Loango region,located along thesouthwestern coast of Africa(Alvárez Nazario 1974:71). During the early years of the eighteenthcentury, when the French controlled the legal slave trade,slaves fromUpper Guinea and theCongo Riverregion were introducedto Puerto Rico (Uya 1987:86). Afterthe British assumed control of the legal slave trade in 1713, themajority of slaves broughtto PuertoRico came fromthe Gold Coast. This trendcontinued into the mid-eighteenth century. It is virtuallyimpossible to determinehow manyslaves were legallyor illegallyintroduced by theBritish, Dutch, or Portuguese,since mostrecords

8. Thelargest slave holding in Coamo during the years 1755 through 1800 was that of AntonioColón de Torres and his wife, Juliana de Aponte, and consisted of at least thirty- sevenslaves. The largest slave holding in Yauco during the years 1751 through 1790 was thatof Fernando Pacheco and his wife, María de Quiñones,and consisted of at least twentyslaves. It is worthnoting that Antonio Colón de Torres and Fernando Pacheco were thetenientes deguerra of Coamo and Yauco, respectively, which shows how political and economicpower were often intertwined. 9. ManuelDiez delBarrio and his son-in-law Valentín Martinez were probably the ownerswith the largest slave holdings on the island during the late eighteenth century. Eachwas reputed to own at least 200 slaves.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 30 DavidStark of such transactionshave been lost or destroyed(Scarano 1984:128; López Cantos2000:25).10 Nonetheless, from 1675 to 1765,low levelsof legal slave importationprobably affected the structureof slavery.This conclusionis based on thesurviving records from the years 1710 through1714 and 1731 through1733. A totalof ninety-sixslaves (eighty-eightadults and eightboys aged twelveor younger)were legally sold in PuertoRico between1710 and 1714 (López Cantos 1994:113-14), while the numberof Africanslegally introducedto the island between 1731 and 1733 totaledonly 115 (López Cantos 1994:37). We can inferthat the levels of illegal slave importationdur- ing theearly years of theeighteenth century were also low. I base thisupon thesmall numberof African slaves baptizedin islandcommunities selected forthis study. Because the baptismalentry in theparish register contained informationon theindividual's legal status,it providedproof of ownership in thecase of slaves. The numberof adultslaves baptizedduring the years coveredby thisstudy in Arecibo,Caguas, and Yauco averagedless thanone peryear, while in Coamo theyaveraged two per year (Stark 1999:113). Prior to theliberalization of the slave tradein the1760s, which brought about a siz- able influxof Africanslaves to PuertoRico, manyplanters and ranchers undoubtedlyrelied on the contrabandtrade for increasing the size of their holdingsand/or encouraged the growthof theisland's enslavedpopulation throughnatural means by promotingmarriage and familylife. The low level of legal and illegal slave importationsto PuertoRico had a lastingimpact on the demographyof slaves. Since feweradult African males were purchasedfrom slave traders,the imbalance between male and femaleslaves was lessened.And as theratio of womenincreased, so did the proportionof children,whereby there was an increasein thegroup's natural growth.The resultingtransition from a predominantlyAfrican-born to a native-bornslave population,a transitionthat most likely occurred during the late seventeenthcentury, further evened out the sex ratioamong the slave population.The possibilityfor natural growth continued until the second comingof sugar,which occurred early in thenineteenth century. Moreover, theemergence of a creolemajority among slaves facilitatedsocial cohesive- ness. Opportunitiesgradually evolved over the course of theeighteenth cen- turyfor a moresettled family life within a larger,nascent Afro-Puerto Rican community.

10. Accordingto Francisco Scarano (1984:121), "No offical records or estimates of slaveimports have ever been found [for the nineteenth century], not even for the period of legaltrading before 1820." Comparable records or estimates donot exist for the eighteenth century.

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Religious Context and Social Implications of Marriage among Slaves

In areasof theSpanish Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, whereCatholicism was the officiallyrecognized religion, slaves were forciblybaptized in the Church.Thus, it is difficultto gauge how well slaves in PuertoRico were taughtthe dogma of the Catholicfaith, and whatthe extentof theirsubse- quentadherence to its tenetswas. The degree of religiousinstruction that slavesreceived, as well as theircompliance with religious practices, probably variedfrom one parishto anotherand overthe course of theeighteenth century.Some priests,such as JuanApolinário Herrera, who servedin therural parishof Toa Baja, locatedon theisland's northerncoast, during the 1750s and 1760s, were particularlyattentive to the spiritualneeds of theirparish- ioners.11In contrast,other clergy, such as JoséCorrea, who servedin north- westerncoastal communityof Añasco from1754 through1767 and laterin thenortheastern coastal communityof Loiza, were apparentlypreoccupied withtheir own materialwell-being and thereforelax in providingthe cate- chismto slaves,as required,following Sunday mass and on holydays of obli- gation(Morales Muñoz 1949a:137; López Cantos 2000:87). 12Owners, too, playeda role in whetherslaves were inculcatedwith the beliefs of Catholi- cism. Oftenthey would make it difficultfor their slaves to attendmass and receivereligious instruction by forcingthem to workon Sundaysand other majorfeast days of the Church (Morales Muñoz 1949b:249-50).The extentof slaves' compliancewith Church norms was also contingenton thestaffing of diocesan parishesand the level of trainingamong the island's clergyat the time.Thus, theextent of slaves' compliancewas sometimesconstrained by factorsbeyond their control. Slaves' adherenceto thecustoms and practicesassociated with Catholi- cismmay have beenrelated to theproportion of Africans comprising an area's overallslave population.Newly arrived African slaves probablyfound it difficultto create theirown community,one in which they could openly continueto practicetheir own formsof religion.In such cases, slaves may have embracedChristianity outwardly, as a means of integratinginto their new surroundings,while secretlycontinuing to adhereto theirown beliefs. 11 . JuanApolinário Herrera was praised by Bishop Julián de Arraiga in 1760for the dedicationshown to his priestly duties and also for his charitable acts. "Informes reser- vadode las cualidades, circumstancias, méritos, servicios yconducta de todos los sujetos [religiosos]que ejercen empleos de todas clases en esta provincia." AGI, Santo Domingo 2521. 12. JoséCorrea was reprimanded byBishop Julián de Arraiga in 1760 for participating incontraband trade and consequently neglecting hisparishioners. "Informes reservado delas cualidades,circumstancias, méritos, servicios y conducta de todos los sujetos [religiosos] queejercen empleos de todas clases en esta provincia." AGI, Santo Domingo 2521.

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The Africanslaves selectedfor this study, those introduced annually as a part of thetrade in humancargo to theisland communities, often spoke mutually unintelligiblelanguages and wereof differentethnic origins. Moreover, the structureof slaveryin PuertoRico duringthe years 1675 through1765, char- acterizedas it was by low levels of slave importationand widelydispersed slave holdings,was probablynot as conduciveto thesurvival or thetransmis- sion ofAfrican religious beliefs and practicesas it was laterin thenineteenth centuryfollowing the resurgenceof sugaras a primaryexport crop (López Cantos2000:75). Of course,some assimilation of African religious beliefs and practicesdid take place. According to Angel López Cantos(1992: 11), however, it was muchless commonthan has previouslybeen assumed. Canonicalmarriage offered slaves tangible benefits. Laws governingmar- riage among slaves possiblyencouraged formal unions among them.For example,when two slaves belongingto differentowners married, the law statedthat the husband's owner was obligedto purchasehis slave's wifefrom theother owner, along withany of herchildren younger than three (Ripodas Ardanaz 1977:378-82; Sued Badillo & López Cantos 1986:273; Rodriguez León 1990:45 and 54). Should the husband's owner fail to purchasethe slave's wife,then the wife's owner was obligedto buythe husband. Married slavescould notbe separatedthrough sale and neithercould they be separated fromtheir minor children. This benefitfor slaves was an inconveniencefor owners,who wereoften reluctant to allow slaves theright to formallylegit- imize theirunions through marriage.13 The scarcityof primary sources has madeit difficult to ascertainthe actual numberof slave and slave/freemarriages occurring throughout the island, promptinga historiographicaldebate concerning the frequency of slave marriagesin PuertoRico. My findingsshow thatmarriages among slaves were commonon theisland in theyears leading up to thenineteenth-century resur- gence of thesugar industry. Referring to marriagerecords consulted for this study,I founda totalof 2,712 marriages,including 237 in whichone or both spouses were slaves. Assumingthat 11 percentof PuertoRico's population consistedof slaves,as the 1765 censusshows, it is strikingthat nearly 9 percentof all marriagesinvolved at least one slave spouse. Thus, a significant portionof theisland's slave populationmarried in theeighteenth century. Let us examinethe formal union of Pedroand Franciscaas well as thatof Lázaro and Agustinain orderto providegreater insight into whom slaves married,at whatages, and at whattime of theyear they did so. I will do this by drawingattention to thevital statistics of slaves thatcan be reconstructed throughthe linking of data containedin parishregisters.

13. Examplesof owners' resistance elsewhere to slave marriage laws can be foundin AcostaSaignes (1967:214-18).

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An Example of Two Slave Marriages

On themorning of December29, 1793,two slave coupleswere married in the Catholicchurch of Coamo.14The firstcouple consistedof a thirty-year-old groomnamed Pedro and his thirty-one-year-oldbride named Francisca, both of whombelonged to JuanPacheco. The secondcouple consistedof a twenty-six-year-oldgroom, named Lázaro who belongedto Andrés de Aponte;his twenty-eight-year-oldbride, named Agustina, belonged to Aponte's wife's second cousin JuanPacheco.15 Although marriage among slaves was not uncommon,it was notoften that two slave couples in one communitywere marriedon thesame day.16Because thebrides were sisters, I suspectthat they mayhave opted(with their owner's approval) to be unitedin marriagewith theirspouses in a jointceremony. The newlyweds,the slave owners,and theirrespective spouses were all bornin Coamo.17Pedro had beenbaptized on February13, 1763,at theage of fifteendays. He was the second of thetwo childrenborn to Guillermoand Maria, a marriedslave couple belongingto FranciscoPacheco.18 Francisca had been baptizedeleven months earlier on March23, 1762,at theage of fifteen days.19She was the second of the fourchildren born to Antonia,an unmarriedslave belongingto JuanPacheco. In contrast,Francisca's sister

14. Theoriginal entry in the marriage register reads (my translation): Inthis communityof Coamo on the 29th day of December of 1793, 1 the undersigned curate having pro- claimedthe three ordinary banns on three festival days within solemn Mass according to theSacred Council of Trent, and having expressed their mutual consent Lázaro, a slave ofdon Andrés Aponte, and Agustina, a slave of don Juan Pacheco, members ofthis parish whoby the present words make a truemarriage and in the presence of the undersigned witnessesjoined the couple in marriage and simultaneously performed the nuptial bless- ingshaving first examined them in Christian doctrine and after they had received confes- sionand communion. The witnesses were Josef Berrios and Josef Ortiz, along with many otherswho were present, of whichI givea faithfulaccount, Josef Navarro. APSBC, Primerlibro de matrimonios:1778-98, folios 150-50v. 15. Ageat marriage is not listed in the parish marriage registers, but was calculated by linkingbaptismal and marital records. Andrés de Aponte'swife was namedJuana de Rivera.Her maternal grandmother, Eugenia Pacheco, and Juan Pacheco's paternal grandmother,Geronima Pacheco de Matos, were sisters. Moreover, Eugenia and Geronima are siblingsof Domingo Pacheco de Matos, who oversaw the spirited defense of Guayanilla againsta Dutch attack in 1703. 16. Thiswas only the second time in Coamo in the years 1778 through 1798 that two slavecouples were married on the same day. 17. Andrésde Aponte was the son of Domingo de Aponte and Constanza de Rivera, whileJuan Pacheco was the son of Juan Rodriguez Pacheco and Maria Berrios Santiago. Juan'swife was named Rosalia Alvarado. 18. Franciscoand Juan Pacheco were brothers. 19. APSBC,Primer libro de bautismos: 1701-73, folio 78.

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Agustinahad been baptizedon September11, 1765, at the age of fifteen days.20She was the thirdof the fourchildren born to Antonia.Lázaro had been baptizedfifteen months later on January6, 1767, at the age of fifteen days.21He was the second of theeight children born to an unmarriedslave namedMarcela - who died on March 13, 1808, at theage of sixty- belong- ing to Andrésde Aponte.22There was no recordof thespouses' fathers. This was the firstmarriage for both brides and grooms.Francisca was childlessat thetime of her marriage. However, Agustina had previouslygiven birthto two children.23Agustina's first child namedIgnacia had been baptized on January25, 1785, at the age of fifteendays, and the second child namedBuenaventura had beenbaptized on July28, 1793,at theage of fifteen days,only five months prior to Agustina's marriage. The relativelybrief inter- val betweenBuenaventura's birth and Agustina's marriage to Lázaro suggests thathe was probablythe child's father.24It may be thatthe child's survival was a factorin Agustina'sdecision to formalizeher union withLázaro, a hypothesisthat I will discussfurther in greaterdetail. In neithermarriage were the brideand groomrelated, and no consan- guinealor affinalimpediments requiring a dispensationwere noted.Unlike PuertoRico's freepopulation, in whichmarriage among near relations and distantcousins was common,Puerto Rican slavesgenerally avoided marrying theirkin, as occurredelsewhere in theAmericas (Kulikoff 1986:346-47).25 Finally,two local citizens,José Berrios and JoséOrtiz, along withthe bride and groom'sowners, served as witnessesto themarriages, which were cele- bratedby JoséNavarro, the forty-seven-year-old assistant to theparish priest and a nativeof San Juan(Zayas León 1997:89).26Following the marriage ceremony,the slave couplesjoined handsand pledgedtheir fidelidad mutua , or mutualfidelity, as theparish priest pronounced a special nuptialblessing known as the velación. The newlywedsthen embarked on theirnew life togetherand themarriage was dulynoted in theparish register.

20. APSBC,Primer libro de bautismos: 1701-73, folio 121. 21. APSBC,Primer libro de bautismos: 1701-73, folio 139. 22. Marceladied on March13, 1808,at theage ofsixty. APSBC, Primer libro de defunciones:1773-1810, folio 393. 23. APSBC,Segundo libro de bautismos: 1773-90, folio 263 e.v. 24. Thishypothesis is further supported by the fact that Buenaventura's baptismal sponsorwas PedroPacheco, the child's future uncle who married Agustina's sister Franciscafive months later. 25. I observedonly one dispensation forconsanguinity among slave marriages exam- inedin this study. 26. JoséBerrios was married to Paula Colón. He wasthe son of Miguel Berrios and Estebaniade Rivera.José Ortiz (de Peña) never married. He wasmost likely the son of JoséOrtiz de Peña and Petrona Figueroa.

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Spousal Selection Patterns among Slaves

Whomdid slaves marry?Most slaves in theeighteenth-century Puerto Rican communitiesI examinedmarried other slaves, as was thecase of Pedro and Franciscaor Lázaro andAgustina. Approximately 60 percentof slave grooms in thisstudy selected slave brides,whereas 80 percentof slave brideschose slave grooms.A slave groomwas nearlytwice as likelyto marrya freebride as a slave bridewas to marrya freegroom. From the male slave's pointof view,marriage with a freewoman gave him access to the life of a peasant because his children,who would also be free,would be sociallymobile and have greatereconomic opportunities (Metcalf 1992:166-67). Owners probably also looked favorablyupon the marriageof slave husbandsand free wives,for they secured free female (and child)laborers since most of thefree personsmarried to slaves lived withthe same masteras a servantor retainer and workedfor the estate alongside their spouses (Goldschmidt1986-87:11- 12). Such marriagesafforded owners with the opportunity to maintain,if not increase,their supply of labor. A morevexing question involves the motives that would influencea free manto marrya slave woman.The answercan be foundin theaccess to land. By the firstdecades of thatcentury, a significantnumber of individuals knownas desacomodados, or "bothersomeindividuals," lacked access to land and had evolvedinto a restlesspeople thatroamed the countryside in search of land on whichto squat (Scarano 1989:31 and Moscoso 1999:126). Land was scarcealong theisland's northern coast, particularly among free persons of mixed race, who comprised40 percentor more of the island's population.27Unrest in thefall of 1750 amongdesacomodados in Manatírevealed the socially destabilizingpotential of these landless individuals.Colonial authoritiesin San Juangrew increasinglyalarmed at the situationand the city'scabildo orderedthe break up of two hatos, or largeland holdingsdedi- catedto raisinglivestock, and theirrespective criaderos , or smallland holdings dedicatedto animalhusbandry, in thehighland sectors of Manatí (Gil- Bermejo García 1970:241). Over 4,800 acres of land were redistributedto 181 desacomodados (Moscoso 1999:125).28Some landownersfaced with

27. Forexample, free persons of color comprised 42 percentof Puerto Rico's total populationin 1779and comprised 44 percentin 1790.AGI, Santo Domingo, 2302 and 2307. 28. ManuelMeléndez, teniente a guerra for Manatí, agreed to the demolition ofhis hatoand criadero named La Potradain December of 1750 with the stipulation that he and hissister Ana Lorenza Meléndez and their seventeen children be grantedtwelve cabal- lerías, or 200 acre increments (2,400 acres), of land. However, Manuel and Ana Lorenza onlyreceived a total of six caballerías (1,200 acres) of land. See Actas del Cabildo de San JuanBautista de Puerto Rico: 1730-50, pp. 296-98.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 36 DavidStark seasonal laborshortages would allow thelandless to live on theirholdings in exchangefor occasional services.As a result,unions of freemen and slave womenwould be facilitated.It is quitepossible that some of the free men who marriedslave womenwere squatters whom the slave ownersought to attach to theland out of a desirefor secure labor. Althougha majorityof slave marriageswere between slaves belongingto thesame owner,as was thecase withPedro and Francisca, slaves who aspired to marryor establish a familyhad to overcomedemographic obstacles. Nearly one-thirdof themarriages between slaves in thisstudy paired spouses who, like Lázaro andAgustina, were owned by differentmasters. For securityrea- sons, ownersprobably tried to limitthe social universeof the slave to the boundariesof theslaveholding unit as occurredin eighteenth-centuryBahia, Brazil (Schwartz1986:383). However,the relatively small size of slave hold- ingsthroughout the island meant that slaves who soughtto marrywould fre- quentlyhave to look beyondthe estate for potential spouses. Slaves likelyalso avoided marryingfirst cousins, as occurredin thelate seventeenthand early eighteenthcenturies in theChesapeake (Kulikoff 1986:346-47). This would furtherreduce the number of eligiblesuitors in a community'smarriage pool. Ownersprobably encouraged their slaves to selecta spouse froma mar- riagepool restrictedto thoseslaves belonging to otherimmediate family members and relatives.Such mayhave been thecase whenLázaro and Agustina were married,since theirrespective owners were second cousins.Another exampleis themarriage of SebastiánCorrea and Felipa Correaon June12, 1753 inArecibo.29 Sebastián's owner, the priest Felipe Correa, was thebrother ofFelipa's owner,José Correa.30 Other evidence confirms that owners encouraged theirslaves to selectspouses from among slaves of near relations. Of the fortymarriages in thisstudy in whichslave spousesbelonged to differentowners,all butfour involved owners with consanguineous ties of varyingdegree. This informationis not contained in theparish marriage register, but by recon- structingthe genealogy of the slave owners,I was able to determinethe nature of consanguineousties between owners of slaves who married.Nearly a third of thesemarriages involved slaves whose ownerswere linkedby ties of the firstdegree; that is, theowners were either siblings, a parentand child,or a parentand son-or daughter-in-law.The marriageof Pablo and Maria on June 14, 1785 in Coamo illustratesthis point: Pablo's owner,María de Gracia Santiago,was themother of Maria's owner,Francisco de Santiago.31When-

29. ArchivoParroquial San Felipe de Arecibo (APSFA), Primer libro de matrimonios: 1708-60,folio 146. 30. Sebastiánwas bornon an islandin theFrench Caribbean. Felipa was bornin Coamoand baptized on May 15, 1712. She was the daughter ofBias and Aldonza, who belongedto Juan Aponte Díaz, a paternaluncle of Felipa's owner's wife (Stark 1992:82). 31 . APSBC,Libro primero de matrimonios enCoamo: 1778-98, folio 52.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Marriageamong Slaves inEighteenth-Century Puerto Rico 37 evera slave selecteda spousefrom those of theestate or thoseof otherimmediate familymembers and relativeswho mightbe livingnearby, the owner avoidedthe additional expense of purchasinga slave spouse. Ownershipdid notnecessarily have to change,and slaves could be allowedto live together. Of theslave marriagesin thisstudy in whichthe origin of bothspouses is known,nearly 70 percentpaired slaves who had been bornin PuertoRico. Ethnicpreferences among certain African groups in PuertoRico duringthe eighteenthcentury suggest a strongtendency to marrypartners from their regionof Africa if not from the same ethnicgroup. The data forthe slaves of Africanorigin in this studyalso shows thatthey tended to marryother Africans.Because we do notknow how manyAfricans there were among the island's slave populations,their choices may well have been based not on preference,but on availability.The predominanceof WestAfrican slaves, especiallyfrom Guinea, among the African population probably made it eas- ier forsuch slaves to marrya spouse of similarorigin. An example of one suchcouple is Carlos and Catalina,African slaves from Guinea who belonged to PedroXiménez, and who marriedon July14, 1780 in Caguas (de Castro Sedgwick1994:12). It shouldalso be notedthat males wereover-represented in theAfrican slave trade;thus slave brideswould have had a greaterpool of Africanmen to choose fromand were able to do so withgreater frequency thanslave groomswould have chosenAfrican women. Some slave and slave/freemarriages were the culminations of long-term illicitrelationships. For example,a totalof thirty-seven- or 29 percentof slave bridesin thecommunities selected for this study, were unmarried mothers.Slave brideswho had previouslygiven birth had, on average,two chil- drenat thetime of theirmarriage. Moreover, their marriage occurred thirty- threemonths - nearlythree years - afterhaving given birth. Survival of the infant(s)might have increasedthe likelihood of marriagebetween single par- entswho had formerlylived in stableconsensual unions, as was probablythe case withLázaro and Agustina.With their children having survived the per- ilous firstyear or two of life, when mortalityposed the greatestdanger, unmarriedmothers in long-termrelationships may well have soughtto avail themselvesof the legal protectionsoffered by the Churchand state and affordedto themthrough marriage. Families could notbe separatedthrough sale or bequest,while marriageprovided slaves withopportunities to make theirsituation more tolerable.

Age at which Slaves Married

Since marriedslave mothers'fertility was higherthan thatof unmarried mothers,age at marriageaffected the number of children a womancould have throughouther reproductive period (Rabell 1990:24). For instance,the num-

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 38 DavidStark berof childrenborn to marriedslave mothersis twicethe number of children bornto unmarriedslave mothers:four compared to two (Stark 1996:407). Witha low level of slave importationaffecting the structure of slaveryover thecourse of theeighteenth century, the increase in theisland's overall slave populationmay well have resultedfrom high levels of maritalfertility. Relativelyhigh death rates among both infants and adultsduring the colonial periodsuggest that slaves in PuertoRico likelymarried at youngages, as did therest of theisland's population, free and enslaved,at thetime. Age at firstmarriage among slave populationswas calculatedby linking informationcontained in thebaptismal and marriagerecords of thesecommunities.This, however, does notallow me to determinethe age at marriage for slaves of Africanorigin or of slaves who were not born in the island parishesselected for this study. Nevertheless, the age of one or bothspouses was ascertainedfor a totalof sixty-eightmarriages in whichthe bride and/or thegroom were slaves. For themost part, male slaves in eighteenth-century PuertoRico tendedto marryat a laterage thantheir female counterparts. The age differencebetween spouses varied,with the groom typically two to six yearsolder thana bride.Of course,some groomswere considerablyolder thantheir bride, as was thecase of a slave namedJoaquin who belongedto the priestFelipe Correa and who was fortyyears old when he married Petronilade la Rosa, a slave aged seventeenyears old. She also belongedto Correa,and was marriedto Joaquinon January22, 1759,in Arecibo.32 Not all groomswere older than their brides, however: one bridein Arecibo and six in Coamo were older thantheir spouses at the timeof the marriage.In such cases, the differencein ages betweenthe spouses was less thantwo years, withone notableexception, a thirty-nine-year-oldbride named Inés who was eighteenyears older than twenty-one-year-old Tomás, a slave belongingto thepriest Tiburcio González Esmurra,when the two marriedon August13, 1801,in Coamo.33 Otherpatterns of behavioramong slaves who marriedin thesecommunities suggestthat slaves marriedand formedfamilies in muchthe same way thatother members of societydid. This includesa tendencyfor males to wait untilthey were at leasttwenty years old beforeentering into a formalunion. None of thegrooms in thisstudy for whom the age at marriageis known are underthe age oftwenty. Moreover, one-third of the grooms were over the age of thirty,including one groomwho was over theage of forty.One possible reason thatmale slaves put offmarriage is thatslaves in PuertoRico were

32. Thereference for Joaquin's baptism isAPSFA, Libro primero de bautismos:1708- 35, no.466, while the reference for Petronila's baptism is APSFA,Libro segundo de bautismos:1735-49, folio 86v. Their marriage can be foundin the APSFA, libro primero dematrimonios: 1708-60, folio 175. 33. APSBC,Segundo libro de bautismos: 1798-1813, folios 37v and 38.

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Marriageamong Slaves inEighteenth-Century Puerto Rico 39 permittedto marketthe surplusproduce grown on theirprovision grounds. Thus,males mayhave purposelydelayed marriage until they had acquireda few personalpossessions and/orsome small animals like a hog or a few chickens.Such a strategycould result in social mobilityand economicoppor- tunity,for it wouldprovide a male slave withthe means to marrya freebride. Female slaves, on the otherhand, tended to marryat earlierages than males. We see thatapproximately one-third of the bridesin thisstudy are underthe age of twenty,whereas none of thegrooms were. For example,the youngestbride in my sampleis a slave namedJuliana belonging to Esteban Colón, who was a merethirteen years and eleven monthsold on March 21, 1779 when she married,in Coamo, a slave named Pedro belongingto the priestMiguel Rodríguez Feliciano.34 Furthermore, only five brides were over theage of thirtyat thetime of theirfirst marriage; none were over the age of forty.It may have been thatmasters encouraged females to marryearly in orderto exploittheir reproductive years, and males to marrylate in orderto takeadvantage of theiryears of youthfulenergy.

Seasonality of Slave Marriage

Althoughmarriage is theone demographicevent that is mostsubject to indi- vidualhuman control, factors beyond people's controloften determined when theymarried. The observanceof religiousproscriptions associated with the liturgicalcalendar affected the timingof marriage(Cressy 1985:4), while labordemands imposed by theagricultural economy influenced the season- alityof marriages, especially those of slaves (Gunn 1990:217). Formalunions weretraditionally frowned upon by theChurch during certain periods of the liturgicalyear, includingthe penitentialseasons of Lent and Advent.35 Accordingto the diocesan synodof 1645, priestsin the diocese of Puerto Rico wereprohibited from administering the special nuptial blessing, known as thevelación , duringLent - whichbegins on Ash Wednesdayand ends on Easter Sunday- or Advent- whichstretched from the fourthSunday pre- cedingChristmas until Christmas Eve.36 Because theseseasons were to be

34. APSBC,Libro primero de matrimonios:1778-98, folio 6v. Juliana was baptized on April2, 1765,in Coamo. APSBC, Libro primero de bautismos: 1701-73, folio 114v. 35. Cf.Rutman, Wetherell & Rutman 1980:42. Catholicism was not the only religion todiscourage Lenten marriage; the Anglican Church also had a proscriptiononsuch marriages. 36. BothAsh Wednesday and Easter Sunday are movable feast days. The earliest possible datefor Ash Wednesday is February 4, whilethe latest possible date is March10. Correspondingdates for Easter vary from March 22 toApril 25. Incontrast, the penitential seasonof Advent stretched from the fourth Sunday preceding Christmas - which fell between November26 andDecember 2 - untilChristmas Eve, December 24 (Cressy1985:1).

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 40 DavidStark markedby abstinenceand penance,couples were discouraged from consum- matingtheir marriage if they had notperformed the velación (López de Haro 1986:165), a typeof religiousoath whereby the future spouses pledged their fidelityto each otheras thepriest pronounced a specialnuptial blessing (Ortiz 1974:87; QuiñonesCuadrado 1974:14). Additionally,the diocese of Puerto Rico prohibitedSunday marriage and also discouragedthe celebration of formal unionson sixteenother major feast days, when attendance at mass was requiredand no workwas to be performed.Approximately 130 to 136 days, or nearly40 percentof thecalendar year, was renderedunsuitable for the celebrationof marriage. Importantdates for understanding the agricultural calendar and assessing itsimpact upon theseasonality of marriageamong Puerto Rico's slave pop- ulationalong the southern coast revolve around the planting and harvestingof theprincipal cash crop,tobacco. Planting of thiscommodity over the course ofthe eighteenth century was traditionallybegun on August30 - thefeast day of Saint Rose - whenthe seeds were sown.After forty-five days or so, the tobaccoseedlings were replanted, usually in themonth of October (Fernández Méndez 1997:26-27).Yet notall tobaccowas plantedat once. Thus,replant- ing was usually staggeredover weeks, even months,and oftencontinued throughthe months of November and December.The growingcycle of tobacco was approximatelyfour months.37 Assuming that the tobacco crop was replantedat thebeginning of October,it would have been readyfor harvest sometimein Februaryand gatheredover the next month or so. This studyof 237 formalunions in whichone or bothspouses is a slave revealsa considerablediversity in theseasonality of slave marriages.Slave marriagesin Areciboand Caguas weremore common during the months of December and January.Work in thesepredominantly cattle-ranching com- munitiesprobably came to a haltat thistime, except for daily taskssuch as feedingand caringfor livestock. In areas wheretobacco was grown,such as in Coamo andYauco, slave marriageswere more common during the months of Apriland May. Agriculturalactivity in thesetobacco-producing commu- nitiesslowed down followingthe spring harvest of tobacco,allowing slaves who aspiredto marriagethe opportunity to do so. The impactof theagricultural calendar on thetiming of slave marriagein Coamo and Yauco is most apparentduring the periodthat stretched from October7 throughDecember 2, whenfew slaves married.During this ten- week periodthe tobacco crop was sown. In fact,only two slave marriages took place in Coamo duringthat period in the years 1778 through1798. Likewise,there were only three formal unions among Yauco's slave popula- tionduring this same periodin theyears 1751 through1790. Conversely,in

37. "Noticiasrecientes solicitadas y adquiridas sobre los tabacos de la islade Puerto Rico... conotras posibilidades que conviene examinar." AGI, Santo Domingo, 2305.

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Areciboand Caguas therewere fifteen and tenslave marriages,respectively, duringthat same ten-weekperiod. Slaves in eighteenth-centuryPuerto Rico generallyobserved proscriptions on Lentenmarriage. For example,during the four- week period from February 25 throughMarch 25, whichroughly corresponds to theLenten season, there werea totalof sevenslave marriages.Moreover, three of the seven slave mar- riagesactually occurred in thedays immediatelypreceding Lent. In contrast, it is likelythat compliance with the taboo on marriageduring Advent varied byregion and possiblywaned over the course of the eighteenth century. Only in Arecibodo we finda dearthof marriagesobserved during the two- week periodstretching from December 2 throughDecember 16, whichfell within theparameters of Advent. In whatways do themarriages of Pedroand Franciscaand of Lázaro and Agustinaconform with previously discussed spousal selection patterns? Like mostslaves in thisstudy who married,Pedro and Franciscabelonged to the same owner.However, the small size of slave holdingsin Coamo and else- wherethroughout the island forced a numberof slaves in thiscommunity to look beyondthe estate on whichthey lived in orderto finda suitablespouse. Such mayhave been thecase of Lázaro, sincehis master,Andrés de Aponte, onlyowned about six slaves.Agustina, on theother hand, belonged to one of largerslave holdingsin Coamo; herowner, Juan Pacheco, had at leasttwenty- two slaves (Stark1999:139). Most slaves who marriedbut belonged to differentowners selected a spousefrom among those of otherfamily members and nearrelatives. The formalunion of Lázaro andAgustina offers evidence of this trend,as theirrespective owners were second cousins through marriage. Both bridesand theirrespective grooms were born in Coamo. Thus,their marriages (like manyothers) paired spouses of a similarorigin. Perhaps the newlywed slave coupleshad knowneach othersince infancy. Families were often sepa- ratedor broken up throughsale ifthe parents were not married like Lázaro and Agustina,just as theycould be dispersedwhen owners set up dowriesor when thetime came forheirs of an estateto claimtheir rightful share. With regard to theage at whichthe couples were married, twenty-six and twenty-eightyears old, and twenty-nineand thirtyyears old, respectively, it was notcommon for slave bridesto be olderthan the slave groom.However, the two-year or lesser differencein theirages was typicalof those unions in whichthe bride was older. The factthat Agustina had givenbirth twice, the second time only five months priorto thedate of hermarriage, was also notuncommon. As we can see, the marriagesof Pedro and Francisca and Lázaro andAgustina were in manyways representativeof patternsof behaviorobserved in othercommunities selected forthis study. Both Pedro and Francisca and Lázaro and Agustinawere marriedfive days followingthe conclusionof Advent.Compliance withtaboos on the celebrationof formalunions during this penitential season had wanedby the

This content downloaded from 148.61.109.103 on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:00:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 42 DavidStark lateeighteenth century. Thus, the liturgical calendar probably did notinfluence thetiming of their marriage. More likely,the timing of these marriages reflects the impactof labor demandsassociated with the planting and harvestingof tobacco.As mentionedpreviously, tobacco was replantedin Coamo roughly duringthe ten-weekperiod from October 7 throughDecember 2, although plantingsometimes continued past this date. The timingof Pedro and Francisca and Lázaro andAgustina's marriages suggests that their owners grew tobacco and thatits planting in thefall of 1793 mayhave continued well into the month ofDecember in Coamo. The briefrespite from the rigors of the agricultural calendar,which also coincidedwith the slower pace ofwork at Christmas,offered an opportunityfor slaves such as Pedroand Francisca and Lázaro andAgustina to marry.

A New Understanding of Marriage among Slaves

A unique set of demographiccircumstances and economic conditionsin PuertoRico duringthe eighteenthcentury fostered the rise of a morefluid society.We see evidence of this in the frequencyand natureof marriage amongthe island's slave population.Slaves who married,especially those who wed freepeople of color,contributed to social stability,which charac- terizedrelations between the free and enslavedsegments of thepopulation in theyears prior to theresurgence of sugaras a primaryexport product. Most slave marriagesappear to have been determinedby theslaves' own choices;there was probablylittle direct intervention by mastersin thespousal selectionprocess among the island's slave population.This observationis based on the studyof eighteenth-centurymarriage registers in Arecibo, Caguas, Coamo, and Yauco, whichreveals only one instance(the marriages of Pedro and Franciscaand Lázaro and Agustina)in whichmore than one couple belongingto thesame mastermarried in thesame ceremonyor on the same day.If two,three, or moreslave couples belongingto thesame master had marriedon the same day and at the same ceremony,this would likely have indicatedthe master's direct intervention in theselection and/or the timingof formalunions, a practicemore characteristic of thenineteenth century, followingthe rise in sugarproduction and the concomitant upsurge of slavery. Throughthe use of previouslyoverlooked primary sources, including parishbaptismal, marriage, and deathregisters, this study reveals the extent of slaves' effortsto marryand establishfamilies. Despite their absence or omis- sion fromthe historical record, slaves are nota people withouta familyhistory.Slaves do have a reconstructablepast - theirfamily tree is notcut.

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References

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DavidM. Stark DepartmentofHistory GrandValley State University AllendaleMI 49401,U.S.A.

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