Slavery in Spanish Colonial Louisiana
(1763-1803)
As a result of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War, France surrendered most of
Louisiana, including New Orleans, to Spain. Under Spanish rule. Louisiana became a more developed.
successful colony, in large part because of a sizable increase in the enslaved population. The Spanish period
can be seen as transitional, linking the society with slaves" of the French period to the mature "slave society".
that emerged under later American rule. During the Spanish regime, the total population of Louisiana increased
from 10,000 to 30,000, and the enslaved population likewise increased from 4.500 to nearly 13,000. Moreover,
the reopening of the African slave trade both “re-Africanized" Louisiana's slaves and contributed more
ethnically and culturally diverse peoples, because the slave traders imported from different geographical
regions of Africa.
Spanish Changes to Slavery Laws
One of the decisive actions that Governor Alejandro O'Reilly took when he came to consolidate Spanish
control over Louisiana in 1769 was to ban the trade in enslaved Native Americansbecause it was creating
unrest, as various tribes raided each other for captives they could sell. However, proclamations issued by
officials in Europe and delivered by their representatives in colonial capitals were often ignored in the
hinterlands. Traders along the former French-Spanish border continued to sell captive Native Americans for a
number of years. When Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miró republished the decree in 1787 and allowed
enslaved Indians to sue for their freedom in coun--usually successfully--slave owners presumably lost
interest in purchasing contraband natives.
Although slavery was an inherently inhumane institution. Spanish law regarding slavery differed from the
French Code Noir in ways that somewhat improved slaves" lives. The Roman Catholicism of the Spanish
acknowledged, at least on paper, that slaves had souls and were thus the spiritual equals of their masters. Under
Spanish law, enslaved people were allowed a few more privileges and protections than the French had granted;
in reality. Spanish slave owners violated most of these rights, though in some cases they were upheld. In
particular, Spanish slave law recognized coartación, the right of self-purchase, and although most enslaved
people had no chance of capitalizing on this privilege. a significant number did. Moreover, manumission was a
well-developed tradition under the Spanish system of slavery, and many individual slaves were freed. Despite
such efforts of the Spanish crown to liberalize slavery, however, the lives of enslaved people in Louisiana
remained harsh. Nonetheless, the Spanish
slave regime exhibited a degree of openness
greater than that which
preceded or followed
Under the previous French regime. manumission of slaves was relatively rare. The slave owner had to make
request in person before the Superior Council and navigate a number of additional bureaucratic barriers.
However, enslaved people were allowed to earn wages for themselves during times when their masters did not
require their labor. The slave owner received a portion of the earnings, and the slave kept the rest for personal
use. During off-hours, slaves were allowed to procure extra food for themselves through hunting, fishing, and
gardening, and they were permitted to market their skills; slaves could sell their surpluses and
handicrafts. These arrangements gave the people held in bondage a small measure of autonomy while
sparing
and
1794
increased the capital slaves could accumulate for their
self-manumission, the Spanish crown invested heavily
o rebuild the city, and much of the money was used to pay slaves for their reconstruction skills. Some
enslaved laborers were then able to take advantage of coartación: if an enslaved person asked his or her owner
to set a price for self-purchase, the master was required by law to name a fair market price and free the slave
when he or she could pay it
Throughout the Spanish period, the wealthier Creole planters argued about what they interpreted as the
leniency of Spanish slave laws, citing enslaved people's right of self-purchase as one of the system's worst
elements. The growing number of gens de couleur libres (free people of color) did in fact serve to counter the
power of the French Creole elites somewhat. The free black population experienced a dramatic increase during
the Spanish era, from fewer than one hundred at the end of French rule to fifteen hundred free people of color
the