In 1823, 4 enslaved African(s) were “liberated” in a state-run scheme usually resulting in involuntary indentures, conscription, or re-enslavement. Under the jurisdiction of 2, Case ID LA-E-248 occurred via the Departemento de Venezuela, Guaira
| RegID | LA-E-248 |
|---|---|
| Case Name | Reports on slaves freed in Gran Colombia* |
| Year | 1823 |
| Government Department | Consejos de Guerra, República de Colombia |
| Court | Departemento de Venezuela, Guaira |
| Trial Outcome | Purchased |
| Enslaved Total | 4 |
| Liberated Africans Total | 4 |
| Registered Total | 0 |
| Notes | Estimates provided here take into consideration how there were very few enslaved African-born people in Central America and how people classified as "negroes" would have mostly been Spanish-speakers and Catholic. However, there is a slim possibility that some people liberated by newly-formed republics could have been from Africa; hence a small representation in the Liberated Africans case list. Obviously, government-freed and -indentured slaves from Africa would not be found at all in places further away from Atlantic networks, although these schemes draw parallels to systems from elsewhere in the world. As Bierk argued, "The practice of slavery, deeply rooted in the daily life of many Colombians, was difficult to eradicate. In August, 1823, a new decree was devised to "reduce the various abuses" prevalent in the labors of the juntas. All juntas were placed under the surveillance of the governors and intendants "who will make them comply with the object of their institution." Accounts of the junta treasurers were to be audited by the national treasury; the governors were to collect all amounts past due, and reports of all activities were to be sent to the intendants for dispatch to the minister of the interior. Lists of slaves freed were to be published in the official gazettes. Inheritance tax funds collected in non-slave cantons could be used by the governor to free slaves in other cantons, and that official was authorized to compensate owners whose slaves had voluntarily entered the army prior to the publication of the law of July, 1821. Repeated calls were issued by the Bogota authorities for reports on slaves freed and various departmental heads forwarded their lists in 1824, 1825, and 1826. In the department of Azuay, in Ecuador, thirty were freed in the years 1824 and 1825 at a cost of 3,790 pesos. Eleven, worth 2,190 pesos were liberated in the province of Quito in 1826. The province of Bogota manumitted twenty-two in 1822, one in 1823, and thirty-three in 1824 (that province had a total slave population of 1,935 in 1821). The port city of La Guayra freed only seven in 1823 and 1824. The small number freed combined with the problems of enforcement led to additional private and public suggestions that the laws again be revised." |
| Sources | Harold A. Bierk, Jr., "The Struggle for Abolition in Gran Colombia," The Hispanic American Historical Review 33, no. 3 (1953): 374-377. |
| Cite as |
| X Capture | |
|---|---|
| Y Capture | |
| Ship Status | Unknown |
| Date of departure from a place or port in Africa generally following the purchase of enslaved people. Include YYYY-MM-DD, if known. | |
| Region of departure from Africa. Required entry. For more information about the geographical hierarchy used in this digital resource, please refer to AfricanRegions.org. | West Africa (unspecified) |
| Place or port of departure from Africa, if known. A controlled vocabulary for place names are associated with geographic coordinates using Google Maps Global Mercator EPSG:900913. See https://epsg.io/transform#s_srs=4326&t_srs=900913&x=NaN&y=NaN | |
| Capture date at sea or on land, if known. Date of the sentence. Include YYYY-MM-DD, if known. | |
| Location | |
| Navy | |
| Ship | |
| Captain | |
| Supporting Ships | |
| Sentence Date | |
| Date of arrival to the place where the trial, purchase, or asylum occurred, resulting in "liberation" and indenture. Includes YYYY-MM-DD, if known. | |
| Region of arrival around the world. Required field. For more information about the geographical hierarchy used in this digital resource, please refer to AfricanRegions.org. Other regions outside of Africa include, Western Europe, East Coast of North America, etc. | North Coast South America |
| Place or port of arrival around the world. Required field. A controlled vocabulary for place names are associated with geographic coordinates using Google Maps Global Mercator EPSG:900913. See https://epsg.io/transform#s_srs=4326&t_srs=900913&x=NaN&y=NaN | Guaira |