AFRO-MEXICANS AND THE MAKING OF MODERN MEXICO: CITIZENSHIP, RACE, AND CAPITALISM IN JAMILTEPEC, OAXACA (1821-1910) By John Radley Milstead A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of History–Doctor of Philosophy 2019 ABSTRACT AFRO-MEXICANS AND THE MAKING OF MODERN MEXICO: CITIZENSHIP, RACE, AND CAPITALISM IN JAMILTEPEC, OAXACA (1821-1910) By John Radley Milstead In 1910, Mexican citizens violently rejected dictator Porfirio Díaz. Over the course of more than three decades, Díaz had isolated Mexico’s popular classes in regions like Jamiltepec, Oaxaca. In this region, the majority indigenous population joined the revolutionary army and demanded citizenship rights, restoration of communal land, and control over their own pueblos. Jamiltepec’s Afro-Mexican residents shared many of these goals and revolted against Díaz as well. They fought to preserve the autonomy of their pueblos, the ability to choose their own elected officials, and the cotton economy that allowed farmers to support their dependent families. Interestingly, even though these two groups of citizens in this isolated coastal region shared similar grievances, they backed different revolutionary factions and fought against one another. Onlookers at the time assumed that racial difference explained these decisions. Scholars working later in the twentieth century incorporated these assumptions into their interpretations of the revolutionary and post-revolutionary violence that plagued the region for decades. This dissertation seeks to understand the root causes of this antagonism by examining how residents of Jamiltepec constructed race and ethnicity in their everyday lives during the nineteenth century. Evidence from the region challenges assertions that Afro-indigenous relations were inherently and historically antagonistic. Afro-Mexican and Mixtec jamiltepecanos at different times did fight on opposing sides in Mexico’s numerous nineteenth century wars. They allied against one another for instance during the independence war and the political conflicts in the immediate aftermath of nationhood. However, on many other occasions jamiltepecanos from both groups joined together to defend the cultural authority of the Catholic Church, the country from a foreign invasion, or pueblo land and resources. In fact, examples from local, state, and national archives suggest that race and ethnicity played little, if any, role in which side one chose during the nineteenth century. Residents nevertheless maintained separate communities and identities in their private lives. Jamiltepecanos essentially developed an informal system of identity whereby geographic location, linguistic ability, and cultural practices demarcated race nearly as much as one’s physical characteristics. At the same time, Mexico’s elite journalists, scholars, and politicians attempted to silence Mexico’s ties to Africa. Race and ethnic identity did intersect with notions of citizenship, regional and national politics, and the economy. After the end of the colonial caste system, Afro-Mexicans in the region downplayed race and stressed citizenship when stepping into the public sphere. Mixtecs, in contrast, emphasized their indigeneity and sought to maintain separate “republics” as their ancestors did for three-hundred years during the colonial era. Residents from both groups sought to protect pueblo autonomy, and they mobilized politically in support of national candidates who they believed would help them achieve these goals. Finally, nineteenth century investors worked to restore Mexico’s economy after independence, but political instability, foreign invasions, civil war, and natural disasters prevented them from attaining this goal until the 1870s. By this point, the experiences of the cotton-producing Afro-Mexican costeños differed sharply from their indigenous counterparts who lived in the mountains. Mixtecs lost control over land and resources at an alarming rate, but Afro-Mexicans in comparison leveraged inexpensive cotton in exchange for protecting their communities. Thus, the ethnic and racial violence during the 1910 Revolution reflected this socio-economic transformation and had roots in the late nineteenth century. Copyright by JOHN RADLEY MILSTEAD 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have accrued a number of personal and professional debts researching this dissertation. In particular, I owe a great deal to the archivists in Oaxaca and Mexico City whose hard work and dedication made this project possible. I regret that I am unable to name every employee who helped me at the Archivo General del Poder Ejecutivo del Estado de Oaxaca, but Gregorio García, Héctor Baños, Lety Arnaud, Miguel Vázquez, and Guillermina Arellanes patiently located hard to find documents, suggested potential resources, and helped me decipher nineteenth century handwriting. In addition, Miguel, Lety, Héctor, and Guillermina took my wife Amanda and me around Oaxaca City to patron saint fiestas, holiday celebrations, and craft beer festivals. At the Archivo General de Notarías del Estado de Oaxaca Socorro Rodríguez Cortés helped me locate valuable material and recommended holdings housed in other collections. In addition, Carlos García Maldonado at the Biblioteca Burgoa and Consuelo Bustamante Fuentes at the Fundación Bustamante Vasconcelos worked with me to obtain documents and rare books stored in their extensive libraries. Numerous friends, colleagues, and mentors assisted me outside the archive as well. Francisco Ruiz Cervantes has supported my research on several occasions. He has always been willing to share his extraordinary knowledge of the holdings in state, judicial, and notary archives as well as the numerous special collections in various locations across the state. Marcos Abraham Cruz Bautista and Juan Julián Caballero introduced me to the Mixteca while they taught me the Mixtec language. Professor Marcos also invited me to learn more about the challenges rural teachers regularly face in the region. In one session, several teachers gave me valuable advice about who to contact along the coast and where I might find them. Master distiller Douglas French literally opened his doors on several occasions and invited us to stay on v his experimental agave farm overlooking Oaxaca’s central valleys, and as an added bonus, he gave us some of the region’s best spirits from his distillery. In addition, Doug also shared his own experiences trading for cotton, and he introduced me to Lic. Herón Justo Canseco Pérez and President of the Asociación de Pueblos Negros Jorge Morgan. Together they each provided me with a great deal of information on the region’s history as well as the association that advocates for Afro-Mexican communities in Oaxaca and Guerrero. Nicholas Johnson at the Centro Académico y Cultural San Pablo recommended various resources and shared his knowledge of the Mixteca. Finally, Antonio Escobar Ohmstede and Pablo Mijangos y González graciously offered their support to complete my research. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to work in Mexico. Fortunately, numerous people have made this possible by generously supporting this project. The History Department at Michigan State University (MSU) funded several summers of archival research and interviews in Oaxaca, Veracruz, Puebla, and Mexico City. In addition, MSU’s Graduate School sponsored research opportunities, conference presentations, and dissertation completion. The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies awarded me a Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant, and the Center for Advanced Study of International Development selected me to study Mixtec for two summers with funding from a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship. I would especially like to thank the Conference on Latin American History for awarding me a James R. Scobie Award for pre-dissertation research. Finally, I could not have finished this dissertation without the support of a Fulbright García-Robles IIE Research Fellowship. My mentors, friends, and colleagues in the United States assisted me greatly over the course of this project. I would especially like to thank Daniel Newcomer at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) for his unwavering support. We’ll see you in Oaxaca soon! In addition, Steve vi Nash, Brian Maxson, Steve Fritz, Mel Page, Doug Burgess, and the entire History Department at ETSU helped me from the moment I returned to school to pursue a BA until I completed my MA. The MSU History Department’s faculty guided me through the next phase of my graduate career and prepared me for success. In particular, I would like to thank Helen Veit, Javier Pescador, David Wheat, Michael Stamm, Josh Cochran, Sidney Lu, and Pero Dagbovie. Additionally, members of the History Dissertation Writing Group Adrienne Tyrey, Emily Elliott, Eddie Bonilla, Carolyn Pratt, Rich Mares, and Liz Timbs read several drafts of my chapters and provided thoughtful suggestions. Eddie, I’m certain that I still owe you something for helping us move on so many occasions. I also want to thank my friends at MSU. Fellow graduate students James Blackwell, Joe Bradshaw, Dave Glovsky, Kathryn Lankford, Brian Van Wyck, Alex Galarza, Jacob Jurss, Emily Riley, Ramón Miranda Beltrán, Aaron Van Oosterhout, David Walton, Sean McDaniel, and Ryan Huey made graduate school interesting and helped preserve my sanity outside the classroom. Several scholars beyond MSU made completing this dissertation possible. First, I want to thank my current colleagues at