the king for weapons of war,[1] but also for permission to retain and purchase arms which were on the point of being withdrawn by adventurers from Pert. This apparent weakness of the Spaniards in New Spain was regarded by the negro population as offering a favorable opportunity to effect their destruction, and, with the coöperation of the natives, liberate the country from the Spanish yoke.
The vindictive character and hardihood of the African race had at an early day attracted the attention of the government to the danger to which the Indies were exposed by the importation of negro slaves. In proportion to the population their numbers were becoming alarming,[2] and although their number in New Spain was relatively insignificant compared with that of the indigenes, it was such as to hold out to them, turbulent as they were and refractory by nature, a prospect of gaining their freedom. They were further emboldened by the knowledge which they obtained of the troubles that embarrassed the king, and by the arrival of vessels from Spain only at long intervals.[3]
Their intercourse with the Indians, and the mutual
- ↑ In December 1537 he informs the king that no arms had been received by him from the royal officials at Seville, to whom the matter had been intrusted. Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 200.
- ↑ In 1523 it was ordered that the number of negroes should only be in the proportion of one to three Spaniards, and that the latter should be well armed; 'porg a causa de auer muchos mas negros, q Christianos en las islas, y auerse comencado a desuergoncar.' Herrera, dec. iv. lib. v. cap. vili. Later other precantionary laws were passed, In 1551 negroes were prohibited from carrying arms. By order of 1542 they were not permitted to be out of doors at night. Recop. de Ind., ii. 363-4. In 1575 they were forbidden to live in Indian towns, and negroes without occupation were to be sent to work in the mines. As the necessity of more stringent laws became apparent, it was ordered, in 1612, that they should not congregate in companies of more than three, while only four negro men and four women were allowed to attend at the funerals of those of their race. Montemayor, Svmarios, 208, pt. iu. 45-6. Nevertheless the negroes in many matters met with consideration, and inducements to become quiet members of the community to which they belonged. By a royal letter to the authorities of New Spain, dated November 1526, we learn that it was considered advantageous to allow them to marry, and after a certain period of service even to purchase their freedom. Puga, Cedulario, 20. Marriage was to be encouraged among them, but the act of marriage did not confer freedom. Recop. de Ind., ti. 361.
- ↑ The viceroy in his letter to the king of December 10, 1537, alluding to 'las guerras y necesidades que V. M. tiene,' remarks, 'y viene á noticia de los negros y de indios, sin que se les encubra nada.' He also advises the king
