“Pardo Militiamen and the Construction of Race in Colonial Mexico”

Abstract

A key aspect of understanding the impact of the African Diaspora in Latin American societies deals with questions of identity. Did blacks and coloreds, particularly those who were free, ever conceive themselves as an independent racial group that possessed their own demands and political agenda? This paper investigates the possibilities for constructing a free-colored racial identity in the framework of a corporate institution: the militia. It assesses three primary areas of inquiry. First, it explores the unique military privilege known as the fuero militar. Here, the aim is to determine if the court cases in which soldiers were involved, and their subsequent disputes over military-based legal exemptions, fostered a racial consciousness. Second, the paper addresses the impact of the Bourbon reforms on the free-colored militia. Did changes to the military structure ushered in after the 1760s work to unite the militiamen on issues of race, rather than bringing them together solely on the basis of their institutional ties? Lastly, the paper addresses the wider ramifications of military corporate privilege on the colony’s free-coloreds through an assessment of tribute exclusions. Militiamen were excluded from paying tribute because of their military services. But throughout the 18th century, this purely military exemption became re-interpreted as a general, free-colored privilege in many areas. How did this speak to the theme of racial identity?