Abstract from SLAVERY IN COLONIAL MEXICO
By John P. Schmal
The Marriages of Slaves in Mexico
The majority of slaves brought to the shores of Mexico were male. With a
lack of female Africans, most of these men eventually chose Indian or
mestizo women as spouses. The long-established Siete Partidas laws of
Spain granted slaves the right to select their spouses. Slave masters
were thus forbidden from intervening in this decision.
Professor Martha Menchaca, the author of Recovering History,
Reconstructing Race: The Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican
Americans, observed that "this legislation was of monumental importance
because it became the gateway for the children of slaves to gain their
freedom.
Due to the lobbying efforts of the Catholic Church the children of Black
male slaves and Indian women were declared free and given the right to
live with their mother." With laws that granted freedom to the children
of a slave who married into other racial