©Copyright by Farren Elizabeth Yero, 2013 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements Over the years, I have been pulled towards this project in so many different ways. Along the way, I have indebted myself to a number of wonderful and inspiring people. This thesis would not have come to be without the generous financial support in the form of a two-year fellowship and a summer research grant from the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University. Their support allowed me to visit the city and the archives of Zacatecas in the summer of 2012. I would like to extend my gratitude to the staff and archivists at the AHEZ and specifically to the ever-patient Judith Medina Reynoso at the APZ, who kindly guided me through my first parochial archive experience. At Tulane, my greatest thanks goes to Kris Lane. Despite his recent arrival at Tulane and his numerous appointments, Kris was always generous with his time and his expertise. I was also fortunate enough to work with Kris on the Colonial Latin American Review, an experience that has been thoroughly rewarding. Those who have had the pleasure to work with him know what a gift he truly is. I must also thank Dana Velasco Murillo for her comments and critiques on this work, her insights into archival research in Zacatecas, but also for her helpful advice and tips about the city itself. I never did make it to those hot springs. My thanks also goes to Justin Wolfe, who has consistently challenged me to think about the bigger picture. Your questions will no doubt continue to drive me to grow as a scholar. I am also grateful to my cohort and fellow graduate students at Tulane. Your feedback and support has been requisite to my completing this project. ii This thesis represents an amalgam, if you will, of a variety of interests nurtured at the University of Florida. Susan Gillespie first sparked my interests in Central Mexico and Nahua culture. However, Ida Altman is largely responsible for the passion I now hold for Mexico and colonial history. When I was unable to make her courses fit within my own schedule, Dr. Altman graciously agreed to take on an independent study with me. This opportunity has meant the world to me. At the time, I had naively believed that I wanted to pursue archaeology, a rewarding albeit difficult field. I had originally hoped to study under Kathleen Deagan, who had previously led archaeological field schools in St. Augustine, a place very close to my heart. Although I am sure that it would have been a wonderful experience, I am very grateful that it did not work out. If it had, I would not have had the honor of studying under James Davidson at Kingsley Plantation. Davidson has been an inspiration, and I am grateful for his advice and his friendship. It was at Kingsley that I spent many hours swatting mosquitoes and staving off heat stroke, but also developing an awareness and a curiosity for the experiences of African slaves in the Spanish Empire. This formative experience will continue to influence my work on the Diaspora. However, I would have never reached these points in my life if it were not for my mother. As a child, she challenged me to do more, to be more creative, and to the exasperation of most of my school teachers and administrators, push past the limitations set before me. My drive comes from you. My heart also goes out to Emily Jones, whose stalwart support has sustained me through the years. Your encouragement in all of my endeavors has meant so much. Although, I am glad we both decided that interior design was not for us. But my greatest debt is to my best friend. Phillip, there are no words that can truly encompass your patience, selflessness, and compassion. This work is dedicated to you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES vi MAPS vii NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY x INTRODUCTION 1 1. SITUATING RACE IN NEW SPAIN 17 The Sistema de Castas and Limpieza de Sangre 18 Racial Restrictions, Daily Realities 22 2. THE SILVER CITY 37 Labor and the Mines 39 Population and Migration 42 Marriage and Residential Patterns 45 Property Ownership 48 3. CREOLES, COMMERCE, AND COMMUNITY 58 Local Economy and Markets 63 Flour and the Alhóndiga 66 El Rastro: Monopolizing Meat, Tallow, and Candles 69 4. BECOMING CHRISTIANS 76 Matrimony: The Grand Remedy 77 The Holy Office of the Inquisition 81 Bigamy 82 Sexuality, Love Magic, and Folk Healing 84 Blasphemy 86 Bestiality: contra natura 91 iv 5. CONFRATERNITIES & THE PARISH CHURCH 99 Afro- Zacatecan Confraternities 99 Confraternities in Colonial Latin America 100 Claiming the Parish Church 103 Baroque Penitence: Submitting to God 105 Patron Saints: Afro-Creole Identities 107 Dues and Alms 108 Women in the Confraternity 109 Hacienda Chapels 117 CONCLUSION 116 REFERENCES 120 v List of Tables 2.1: Population Estimates, Zacatecas, 1572-1770 44 2.2: Comparative Population of Zacatecas by Racial Categories, 1546-1799 45 2.3: Marriage Petitions by Mulatos/Negros Libres, 1670-1730 47 vi Maps Map. 1: The Northern Frontier of Colonial New Spain vii Map 2: Highways to the North Source: Phillip Wayne Powell, Soldiers, Indians, and Silver viii Map 3: The City of Zacatecas, 1732 Source: Don José de Rivera Bernárdez, Descripción de la muy noble y leal ciudad de Zacatecas, 1732. ix NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY Throughout this thesis, I use a number of terms that reflect African heritage. When discussing individuals in specific records, I will rely on the racial label designated in the case file. These terms varied throughout New Spain. However, in Zacatecas, the primary terms used to denote African descent were mulato (African and European heritage), negro (generally used to describe individuals with particularly dark skin and generally associated with slavery), moreno, prieto, and pardo (the last three all relating to brown skin). Generally, I will use “Afro-Mexican” and “Afro-Zacatecan” to describe entire populations of individuals of African descent. These terms are problematic in that they include free and enslaved peoples, but when these circumstances are relevant, I make the effort to emphasize this. Throughout the thesis, I have avoided using “black” to describe individuals of African descent, as this connotes the British/U.S. black/white racial binary. x 1 Introduction The 1608 Relación de Nuestra Señora de Zacatecas describes Mexico’s most productive silver mining hub as being a “city of Spaniards from its initial foundation, although there are some Indians who served to work the mines for the benefit of [the Spaniards].”1 From the first silver strike well until into the period of independence, officials continued to perceive Zacatecas as a “city of Spaniards.” Although native peoples are mentioned in the Relación, it is only as a source of labor for the benefit of the Spanish miners. Accounts such as this have reinforced the assumption that within mining towns, cultural and racial barriers tended to dissolve, leading to an ultimately “Spanish” culture. Zacatecas, as the archetypical mining city of colonial Mexico, has shared such a reputation, whereby it is understood that its residents, despite their diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, inevitably succumbed to the cultural homogenization that is mestizaje. This thesis aims to expand this limited understanding of Zacatecas to shed light on the lives of Zacatecans of African descent. Traces of their lives may be found in documents from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the seventeenth century, colonial Mexico was home to one of the largest populations of free and enslaved Africans in the New World. Although many scholars have begun to delineate experiences of Africans and their descendants in central New Spain, the northern frontier has been consistently overlooked. In an effort to remedy this omission, this 2 thesis seeks to explore the lived experiences of men and women of African descent in the city of Zacatecas, which for many years was the center of colonial New Spain’s silver mining industry. Through the use of archival records, mostly from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, this thesis offers an analysis of the different ways Afro-Zacatecans engaged with colonial structures of authority. Specifically, I hope to provide an understanding of how Afro-Zacatecans negotiated their way through various church and state institutions to traverse and sometimes challenge socio-racial exclusionary practices, construct communities, and create opportunities for themselves and their families. In analyzing the records from this time period, I hope to demonstrate how Afro-Zacatecans adapted to the circumstances surrounding mining productivity and the commerce it generated, as well as the changing perceptions of race, gender, and class at the dawn of the eighteenth century. By probing the unique conditions of this peripheral area, my hope is that we will better understand Afro-Mexican experience outside the bounds of central Mexico. Afro-Zacatecas: A Review Most scholarship on colonial Zacatecas has focused on the mining industry and its role in the colonial economy.2 Given the nature of this line of inquiry, most of the resulting publications have been chronologically framed according to the fluctuations in the industry and the economic policies that influenced them. There were several boom and bust cycles. After the city was established in 1548, Zacatecas experienced economic vitality until around 1630. A depression ensued lasting until around 1690. This marked the beginning of a revival that lasted until the 1730s. Throughout the Spanish empire, the eighteenth century marked the beginning of the Bourbon period, a time of administrative restrictions and economic 3 reform. However, in Zacatecas, it appears that these reforms did not make deep impacts until after 1750.