vancement of a race; and stamped it with ignominy.[1] Nevertheless race stigma was not nearly so severe as in the United States[2]or even in British India, as shown by the constant intermarriage of the peoples, which formed a bond between them of ever-growing strength. A proof of the greater liberality in the south is furnished by the condition of the negroes. Originally imported as slaves, provision was made for their liberation by self-purchase, at a rate fixed by the courts, and without much consideration for the price paid by the owner, or their value to him. Possessed both of strength and energy, they readily availed themselves of the privilege; so that at the beginning of this century those in bondage could not have exceeded ten thousand,[3] congregated chiefly in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz and Acapulco. The introduction was limited in New Spain,[4] partly for political reasons, owing to their turbulent disposition.[5] The trade lay in the hands of certain licensed firms.[6] The privilege of purchasing their freedom indicates considerable liberty of action, so as to acquire the necessary means. A number of laws were issued for their protection, giving orders that they
- ↑ It is the feeling we would entertain for a slave, happier though he might be in servitude than as a free man. Only too many writers on the topic have confined their studies to works like Solorzano, De Ind. Ivre, of the seventeenth century, without considering the improvements since effected among Indians; but there are also more comprehensive investigators; and among them I notice with pleasure José Antonio Saco, who in Revista de Cuba, a most attractive and well edited review of Habana, contributes a series of articles on the encomienda system, which indicate much research and promise to be quite exhaustive.
- ↑ It must be admitted, however, that the Indians of northern latitudes had not attained to the same high level of culture as in Mexico, so that intercourse there could not be so readily entertained.
- ↑ Some estimates reduce them to 6,000, including mulattoes and zambos.
- ↑ Humboldt estimates it at less than 1⁄100 of the export from Africa. Essai Pol, i. 130.
- ↑ As shown in Hist. Mex., ii. 384-5, this series, and at the beginning of this volume.
- ↑ Between 1664 and 1673 two Genoese had the sole contract and introduced only four cargoes. Mancera, Instruc., in Col Doc. Inéd., xxi. 465-7. In 1699 the Compañia Real de Guinea del Reino de Portugal had an agent in New Spain for their trade. Reales Céulas, MS., i. 103. Shortly after Frenchmen obtained the exclusive right to import slaves and established a factory at Vera Cruz in 1702; ten years later Englishmen tried the business, and so the privilege changed hands. In 1794 a tax of 6% was placed on money
