Pre-Abolition Spanish Colonial Cuba Bill of Sale for 4 Enslaved Creole and African Persons, 1870

Slavery Cuba

Manuscript & Autographs

[Slavery] [Cuba] Spanish colonial slave sale manuscript recording the transfer of four enslaved individuals in Cuba in 1870. Produced within the official bureaucratic framework of Spanish colonial governance, the document reflects the legal normalization of slavery in Cuba even as abolitionist pressures mounted across the Atlantic world.. The document records the sale of four enslaved people described as “criollos” and African-born individuals, situating the transaction within a labor system that combined locally born and imported enslaved populations. Created at a time when Spain had formally restricted the transatlantic slave trade but continued to permit slavery itself, the manuscript demonstrates the persistence of legalized human commodification and the integration of enslaved labor into the island’s economic structure sixteen years prior to abolition in 1886.

Official Cuban slave contract documenting the sale of four enslaved individuals to Don Pedro Catasús by Don Enfemia Ochoa for the sum of 1100 pesos on November 29, 1870. Single manuscript leaf written in Spanish cursive in black ink, measuring 8.25" x 12". A green “50 cs de escudo” revenue stamp is affixed at the top center, with a blind embossed Spanish crest at the upper left and a circular black ink government seal impressed at the lower left. Large vertical docketing appears on the verso. A stylized watermark is visible within the paper. The text organizes the enslaved individuals within a standardized transactional structure, while the signatures of Enfemia Ochoa, Pedro Catasús, and A. Díaz de Rada authenticate the exchange and identify participants within the slaveholding economy.

By 1870, Cuba remained a central node in the late Atlantic slave system, with plantation agriculture, especially sugar, dependent on enslaved labor despite mounting abolitionist pressure. Although Spain had curtailed official slave imports earlier in the century, illegal trafficking persisted into the 1860s, and other coerced labor systems, including the importation of Chinese indentured workers, overlapped with slavery into the 1870s. The presence of both Creole and African individuals in this document reflects the layered composition of the enslaved population during this period. Light toning, scattered foxing, and edge wear visible. A closed wormhole extends from the upper right margin approximately five inches into the sheet, resulting in partial loss of text. Evidence of prior tape reinforcement visible on the verso, along with offsetting from previously adjacent material. Overall in very good condition. This document provides named, transactional evidence of late-period slavery in Cuba, offering concrete material for examining race, labor, and legal practice within Spanish colonial society.

Item #23122

Price: $1,250.00