User:Houston515/Slavery in Latin America

Slave families
Slave families among the enslaved in Latin America contributed to various changes on plantations with regards to relationships. Slave families benefited both the enslaved and the enslaver. For the enslaved, the concept of community and relationship was crucial in making life tolerable, while producing and committing to their duties on the plantations that they worked. Within the coffee plantations of the Paraiba Valley, the Brazilian economic center from 1822-1889, the presence of the slave family was very significant in terms of not only population but their purpose. For the enslaver, the acceptance and use of slave families brought peace and stability to the plantations and farms that they owned. This was done by allowing slaves the freedom to produce relationships, as well as to freely practice culture and social activities such as singing, praying, dancing, chatting, rest, and, and community meals. The concept of slave communities led to the belief that the plantation would be peaceful, but also more successful, as rebellions and general disturbances, a typical concern among plantation owners, would be less of an issue. The plantation communities are a similar concept to Maroons, although major differences include purpose and place. The planation communities created through family ties and shared hardships, along with other fractional freedoms received from the enslavers, allowed for the coffee plantations within Paraiba to produce high profit and productivity. Enslavers would often promote slave families, as they would gain the benefit of the production of new laborers, through the courtship of the enslaved. This was most common on plantations with higher populations, as it was easier to pair off the enslaved due to the greater balance between the sexes within the population. However, it seems unlikely that the plantations with lower population wouldn’t do the same. Increased morale, through slave communities created a more balance relationship between the enslaved and the enslaver, as well as labor and profit. Slave families and relationships of the 19th century marked a drastic change in slavery, as just a few centuries prior, slave marriages and relationships among slaves were believed to be the source of crime, social unrest, maroonage and rebellion through out the slave populations.

The slave communities also benefited from the senzala. The senzala brought together and kept slave communities connected. These community style homes were common among the fazendas in Latin America, and were made up of mainly earthy materials. The typical structure consisted of and used the wattle and daub building style, had thatched roofs, and beaten earth floors. Some senzalas were more finished and had tile roofs and finished floors. It was typical for most senzalas to be divided into separate 9-12 meter square cubicles, so that each family had their own space. The close conditions of these homes made it easy for the enslaved to further connect and develop the community-style relationship that was at the forefront of the fazendas and plantation system of Latin America. As stated by Flávto dos Santos Gomes, author of Africans and Slave Marriages in Eighteenth-century Rio de Janeiro: "Family arrangements and forms of compadrio helped slaves invent identities related to the communities in which they lived."

Wet Nurses
Wet nurses are just one of the many reason women were at the forefront of the slave system. Wet nurses were typically enslaved women of African origin who helped care for the families that owned them, with a heavy focus on care for the slave owner's children. The duties preformed by these nurses included breastfeeding, general care for the master's children which included hygiene and health, as well as household chores to keep up with the enslaver's personal home. Some of which included ironing, laundry, sewing, hairdressing, and cooking. The concept and use of the wet nurse was very prevalent in 19th century Brazil. Due to their importance, many wet nurses were integrated into members of the enslavers personal family. This concept is similar to that of the modern day nanny. Slave relationships, especially marriage began to decrease in frequency towards the end of the 19th century. One of the factors being that enslaved women began to become more involved with their owners, seemingly due to the demand of their nursing duties. This demand brought the enslaver and enslaved quite literally closer together, allowing for these unlikely relationships to develop. According to a 1872 census in Ilhéus, the relationships between slave and enslaver were still atypical as only 12.5% of the population was mixed or pardo. The percentage was small, but still large enough to effect and disrupt the relationships and family life of the enslaved populations.

Slave Mothers and Women
Slave mothers endured many difficulties throughout the process of Latin American slavery, including fighting for the freedom of their children, and the freedom for themselves. Slave mothers for centuries were denied motherhood and freedom, forced to watch their children enter an era of chattel slavery, described by Barbara Bush, author of African Caribbean Slave Mothers and Children: Traumas of Dislocation and Enslavement Across the Atlantic World: as being born into "a womb of iron and gold". For mothers and slave families alike, a time of relief and change was long overdue. The end of the 19th century provided this through a new means of legal freedom. Havana and Rio de Janeiro are historically known for their heavy use of slavery and slave institutions, but also for the freedom that they provided. Havana and Rio de Janeiro provided slaves with the opportunity for freedom, an opportunity that happened to be used most by enslaved women. These cities, known for there "urban freedom" that captivated the enslaved from all around Latin America to come and make freedom claims. Starting in 1870, gradual and legal abolition was administered from these major cities. Havana and Rio were home to major legal and political institutions, which included the Brazilian national parliament and appeals court located in Rio, and the Spanish Governor General and colonial offices of Havana. Escaping slaves flocked to these "urban freedom" centers in hopes of freedom. When reviewing the claims for freedom made in these cities, it is apparent that women were at the forefront of the search for legalized freedom. A database created by Keila Grinburg provides data that supports this trend. Among thirty cases of freedom claims made in Rio between 1871 and 1888, 27 were done by women (90%). This was an improvement from data collected from 1850-1870 where sixteen out of 34 (47%) claims were done by women. Grinburg had a wider selection of Cuban data, that shows that of the 710 claims made between 1870-1886 in Havana, 452 were women (64%). Within the the same timeline and also in Havana 130 appeals were made on behalf of another person, that was most often than not for children. Of the 130 appeals, 105 were made by women (81%). Latin American women dominated legalized abolition in the late 19th century. The trend of women dominating legal freedom could be attributed to reasons, including, escaping vial relationships from slave owners, a mother's instincts to care for her children, or superior knowledge of the slave court system during this time.