Puerto Rico Slave Registration After the Moret Law Listing a 26 Year Old Enslaved Man, "Eleuterio", 1871

Slavery Puerto Rico

Manuscript & Autographs

Puerto Rican slave registration document from 1871, recording the legal identity, ownership, agricultural occupation, and physical classification of Eleuterio, a twenty six year old enslaved man in Arecibo during the final years of slavery under Spanish colonial rule. Issued after Spain's 1870 Moret Law had initiated a limited process of emancipation but nearly two years before abolition in Puerto Rico, the cédula placed Eleuterio within a registration system designed to record enslaved people by name, family relations, occupation, owner, residence, and identifying physical characteristics. His classification as “mulato,” his occupation as “labrador,” and his ownership by the succession of D. Manuel Ortiz place racial designation, agricultural labor, and property status together within the administrative machinery of colonial slavery. Registro de Esclavos, Isla de Puerto Rico. Arecibo, Puerto Rico, May 15, 1871. Single printed and manuscript cédula, folio no. 1,740. The document identifies “Eleuterio” as an enslaved man, “propiedad de la Sucn. de D. Manuel Ortiz,” twenty six years old, a native of Puerto Rico, single, and “de oficio labrador.” He is recorded as “no está coartado” and as residing in the barrio of Santana, with his mother identified as “Valentina.” The printed “Filiacion” column subjects his body to a standardized identifying description: tall stature, “Color mulato,” sparse hair, sparse beard, black eyes, a regular nose, and a further description of the mouth partially affected by loss. The lower portion carries the signatures or attestations of the “Registrador,” “El dueño,” and “El Comisario,” with the owner's portion apparently signed on behalf of the succession by Francisco Aguirre. A one peseta fiscal stamp appears at lower left beneath the physical description. The verso bears manuscript docketing and staining associated with subsequent administrative handling. Eleuterio's cédula was produced within a rapidly changing legal regime. The Moret Law of 1870 granted freedom to specified categories of enslaved people, including those aged sixty and older, those belonging to the state, and children born after September 17, 1868, while leaving many others, including a twenty five six old agricultural laborer such as Eleuterio, legally enslaved. His notation as “no está coartado” further records that he had not entered the system of coartación through which an enslaved person could make payments toward self purchase. On March 22, 1873, the Spanish National Assembly abolished slavery in Puerto Rico, compensating former enslavers while requiring the emancipated population to enter labor contracts for an additional three years. Moderate toning and staining, scattered wormholes with small losses affecting several manuscript entries, loss along the upper edge affecting part of the printed heading, and additional minor edge losses; principal manuscript information and signatures remain legible. Overall good condition. An individually named record of the administrative system that converted Eleuterio's race, body, family relationship, agricultural labor, residence, and legal ownership into the identifying data of slavery less than two years before abolition in Puerto Rico.

Item #23797

Price: $850.00