Purchasing Whiteness: Pardos, Mulattos, and the Quest for Social Mobility in the Spanish Indies

by Ann Twinam

Overview

The colonization of Spanish America resulted in the mixing of Natives, Europeans, and Africans and the subsequent creation of a casta system that discriminated against them. Members of mixed races could, however, free themselves from such burdensome restrictions through the purchase of a gracias al sacar—a royal exemption that provided the privileges of Whiteness. For more than a century, the whitening gracias al sacar has fascinated historians. Even while the documents remained elusive, scholars continually mentioned the potential to acquire Whiteness as a provocative marker of the historic differences between Anglo and Latin American treatments of race. Purchasing Whiteness explores the fascinating details of 40 cases of whitening petitions, tracking thousands of pages of ensuing conversations as petitioners, royal officials, and local elites disputed not only whether the state should grant full whiteness to deserving individuals, but whether selective prejudices against the castas should cease.

Purchasing Whiteness contextualizes the history of the gracias al sacar within the broader framework of three centuries of mixed race efforts to end discrimination. It identifies those historic variables that structured the potential for mobility as Africans moved from slavery to freedom, mixed with Natives and Whites, and transformed later generations into vassals worthy of royal favor. By examining this history of pardo and mulatto mobility, the author provides striking insight into those uniquely characteristic and deeply embedded pathways through which the Hispanic world negotiated processes of inclusion and exclusion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804750936
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	01/28/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	552
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Ann Twinam is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Miners, Merchants, and Farmers in Colonial Colombia (University of Texas Press, 1982) and of Public Lives, Private Secrets: Gender, Honor, Sexuality, and Illegitimacy in Colonial Spanish America (Stanford UniversityPress, 1999). This latter book won the Thomas F. McGann Prize and was runner up for the Bolton Prize.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Preface xv

Part 1 Introductions

1 Conclusions: A Century of Historiography 3

The Internet: The New Challenge 4

U.S. Scholars and First Research on Gracias at Sacar 5

The Search for Documents: Lanning and King 7

Spaniards and Spanish Americans on Gracias al Sacar 12

The Konetzke Documents 13

"Whitening: The 1960s and 1970s 14

Venezuelan Connections: Sanros Rodulfo Cortes 19

The Caste versus Class Debate 21

Gracias al Sacar: Identity and Latin American Racism 22

Common Misconceptions 24

Finding the Gracias al Sacar: Reverse Engineering in the Archives 25

First Answers, Additional Questions 29

2 Introductions: Alternative Approaches 35

Methodology: Emic and Etic; Processual Analysis 36

Gracias al Sacar: A Comparative Perspective? 39

Contexts 1: Vocabularies of Change 42

Contexts 2: Vassals, Justice, Reciprocity, Inconveniences 56

Eric Considerations; Public, Private, Passing, Honor 60

The Actors, Paper Flows, and Chains of Command 65

Chronologies: Linear, Frozen, Atlantic, Traditional 75

Part 2 Long Time

3 Interstices: Seeking Spaces for Mobility Introduction 81

Movement from Slave to Free 84

Free Wombs: Ending Bondage for the Next Generation 90

Slaves and the Attachment of White Privileges 96

Freeborns: The Society of Castes 99

1620s-1700: First Movements toward Whiteness 104

Continuities after 1700: Tribute and Militias 113

1700: Attaching White Perquisites 118

Conclusions 121

4 Connections: Genealogical Mathematics 124

Introduction 124

Mulatta and Parda Women 127

Mulatto and Pardo Males 131

White Females with Pardo Males 136

Results; Baptismal Certificates 138

Alternative Paths 142

Conclusions 146

Part 3 Whitening: Precursor Cases

5 Benchmarks: Commoditizing Whiteness, Cuba and Panama 151

Introduction 151

Cuban Surgeons; First Precedents, 1750s and 1760s 152

Panamanian Notaries: Further Precedents, 1760s and 1770s 166

The Smoking Gun Case: Panama, 1786 171

Conclusions 171

6 Balances: Weighing the Prices of Full Whiteness Introduction 177

First Petitions for Total Whiteness 179

Guatemalan Efforts: Bernardo Ramirez 185

Reapplications 192

Conclusions 196

7 Exceptions: The Venezuelan Cluster Introduction 198

First Applications 200

Venezuelan Exceptional ism 205

Protest Letters to the King 214

The Audiencia Investigates 218

White Petitions 221

Cámara Indecisions 226

Conclusions 232

Part 4 The Whitening Gracias Al Sacar: 1795-1814

8 Opportunities: Whitening, the First Year, 1795-1796' 237

Introduction 237

The Ayarzas: A Test Case 238

The First Applicants, Responses, Whitenings 244

The Ayarzas Revisited 251

First Judgments and Whitening Policy 253

Caracas Reactions: The Cabildo and Audiencia Respond 255

Conclusions 265

9 Dissentions and Discords: 1796-1803 269

Introduction 269

Madrid: Conflict over Whitenings 270

Free Pardos Strike Back: The Pardo Guild of Caracas 274

Madrid: First Enforcements and Caracas Complications 277

The Caracas Establishment Strikes Again 281

Madrid: Applications, Tensions 281

The Don Issue 284

Gracias al Sacar: 1801 Version 287

Lima Is Not Caracas 289

Conclusions 293

10 Denouements: 1803-1806 297

Introduction 297

The Office of Fiscal under Stress 298

Local Responses to Whitening Decrees 300

Putting Whitening to the Test 305

Alternative Interpretations: Bishop and Governor 309

Caracas Resistance 312

The Council of the Indies: Rebukes and Retreats 315

Conclusions 320

11 Recalibrations: The 1806 "Mystery" Consulta; the 1808 Viaña Consulta; and the Cortes, 1806-1810 323

Introduction 323

Mystery Consulta; The Background 324

The 1806 Mystery Consulta and the Establishment 327

Mystery Consulta and Policy toward Pardos and Mulatros 330

Mystery Consulta and Influence on Whitening Policy 333

The Viana Consulta, 1808 340

Subsequent Events 344

Conclusions 345

The Whitening Gracias al Sacar: Overtaken by Events 348

12 Evolutions: Vassals to Citizens? 352

Introduction 352

September 24 to October 15, 1810: Are Spain and America Equal? Are Spaniards and Americans Equal? 354

December 16, 1810 to February 7, 1811: The Lurking Problem of the Castas 359

The Constitution of 1812: Who Are Spaniards? Who Are Citizens? 365

American Delegates Continue Support for Casta Citizenship 376

Intervention of the Mexican Consulado 379

Casta Compromise 381

Lima Responses 382

Conclusions 386

Part 5 Conclusions

13 Retrospectives: Tidbits, Chunks, and Conclusions 391

Introduction 391

Methodologies: Alternative Digital Strategies 392

Whitening: Direct Outcomes 394

Alternative Paths, 395- Variable and Ambiguous Outcomes 401

Conclusions and Processes 410

Contexts: Traditions, Time, Patterns, Genealogy, Locality 411

Actors: Castas, Royal Officials, Local Elites 412

Chronologies: Long, Linear, Frozen, Atlantic, Traditional 417

Conclusions 420

Appendix A Archival/Printed References to Whitening Cases 425

Appendix B Dates of Service, Vacancies, and Experience of Fiscals for Peru and New Spain (Mexico) 429

Notes 431

Bibliography 489

Index 521

Editorial Reviews

"Beginning with a two-part historiographic and methodological introduction, Twinam guides readers through concepts of social mobility in the Spanish Indies from the arrival of African slaves until the Bourbon reforms . . . This book is an impressive methodological study for uncovering the voices of nonwhite colonial society . . . Recommended."

CHOICE - S.B. Opperman

"Ann Twinam's long anticipated study of royal dispensations from the "defect" of African descent (gracias al sacar) proves well worth the wait . . . At over four hundred pages, this book will not find a place in the undergraduate curriculum, but it should be essential reading for graduate students and scholars of both Latin America and the history of race more widely. Twinam guides readers with clear chapter summaries, while also enticing them to keep turning pages to follow her detective-like investigations of both personal dramas and political debates."

American Historical Review - Sarah C. Chambers

"Scholars of colonial Latin America will certainly appreciate the extensive archival work of this book. Ann Twinam demonstrates the making of gracias al sacar, or the purchase of whitening, in colonial Spanish America, specifically through its institutionalization, which makes her effort not just noteworthy but critical to advancing the field....Twinam's attention to detail, and her insistence on the correct versus incorrect interpretation of royal rulings, reveals an attention to the official narrative and a monumental institutional study, or a history of a policy."

Hispanic American Historical Review - Rachel Sarah O'Toole

"Quite simply, the author knows more about this subject than anyone else ever has. Her research is thorough, original, and imaginative. Above all, she demonstrates the larger relevance of what might first seem a narrow topic. These whitening petitions are valuable because they throw a sharp light on long-term, largely submerged processes of casta mobility. Some of the most interesting passages describe her detective work in tracking down whitening cases and uncovering the life stories of the petitioners."

Brown University - R. Douglas Cope

"This meticulously researched, elegantly written book examines casta mobility....Twinam is the first to have described why the gracias al sacar appeared and what it meant. In accomplishing this herculean task, she did much more than analyze the whitening case histories, by telling the story of countless other castas who informally passed and struggled to provide a better life for their descendants. For anyone interested in understanding this process throughout the Americas, Purchasing Whiteness is essential reading."

New West Indian Guide - David M. Stark

"Purchasing Whiteness is quite simply, a magisterial tour de force that will be received as a significant contribution to the historiography of race in colonial Latin America. It exemplifies the very best of historical research. Twinam's groundbreaking methodology that connected previously unknown gracias al sacar documents amounting to some thousands of pages underlines the increasing importance of digital resources to historical research...Twinam writes with a striking immediacy, in a language that is accessible to undergraduates and advanced scholars alike, and I suspect that Purchasing Whiteness will rightfully become a core textbook on the complicated yet fascinating history of race in colonial Spanish America."

H-Caribbean - Cecily Jones

"This is a massive, hefty piece of work, both in terms of length and depth of scholarship. I admit that I was rather daunted by its prospect, but once I started reading I was soon fascinated by the topic and the way it is presented. It'll win prizes. It's important."

Pennsylvania State University - Matthew Restall

"Ann Twinam's long anticipated study of royal dispensations from the "defect" of African descent (gracias al sacar) proves well worth the wait . . . At over four hundred pages, this book will not find a place in the undergraduate curriculum, but it should be essential reading for graduate students and scholars of both Latin America and the history of race more widely. Twinam guides readers with clear chapter summaries, while also enticing them to keep turning pages to follow her detective-like investigations of both personal dramas and political debates."—Sarah C. Chambers, American Historical Review

"Beginning with a two-part historiographic and methodological introduction, Twinam guides readers through concepts of social mobility in the Spanish Indies from the arrival of African slaves until the Bourbon reforms . . . This book is an impressive methodological study for uncovering the voices of nonwhite colonial society . . . Recommended."—S.B. Opperman, CHOICE

"This is a massive, hefty piece of work, both in terms of length and depth of scholarship. I admit that I was rather daunted by its prospect, but once I started reading I was soon fascinated by the topic and the way it is presented. It'll win prizes. It's important."—Matthew Restall, Pennsylvania State University

"Quite simply, the author knows more about this subject than anyone else ever has. Her research is thorough, original, and imaginative. Above all, she demonstrates the larger relevance of what might first seem a narrow topic. These whitening petitions are valuable because they throw a sharp light on long-term, largely submerged processes of casta mobility. Some of the most interesting passages describe her detective work in tracking down whitening cases and uncovering the life stories of the petitioners."—R. Douglas Cope, Brown University

"Purchasing Whiteness is quite simply, a magisterial tour de force that will be received as a significant contribution to the historiography of race in colonial Latin America. It exemplifies the very best of historical research. Twinam's groundbreaking methodology that connected previously unknown gracias al sacar documents amounting to some thousands of pages underlines the increasing importance of digital resources to historical research...Twinam writes with a striking immediacy, in a language that is accessible to undergraduates and advanced scholars alike, and I suspect that Purchasing Whiteness will rightfully become a core textbook on the complicated yet fascinating history of race in colonial Spanish America."—Cecily Jones, H-Caribbean

"Scholars of colonial Latin America will certainly appreciate the extensive archival work of this book. Ann Twinam demonstrates the making of gracias al sacar, or the purchase of whitening, in colonial Spanish America, specifically through its institutionalization, which makes her effort not just noteworthy but critical to advancing the field....Twinam's attention to detail, and her insistence on the correct versus incorrect interpretation of royal rulings, reveals an attention to the official narrative and a monumental institutional study, or a history of a policy."—Rachel Sarah O'Toole, Hispanic American Historical Review

"This meticulously researched, elegantly written book examines casta mobility....Twinam is the first to have described why the gracias al sacar appeared and what it meant. In accomplishing this herculean task, she did much more than analyze the whitening case histories, by telling the story of countless other castas who informally passed and struggled to provide a better life for their descendants. For anyone interested in understanding this process throughout the Americas, Purchasing Whiteness is essential reading."—David M. Stark, New West Indian Guide

From the Publisher