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Abstract:
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Late colonial Mexico possessed one of the largest free-colored populations
in Spanish America, numbering around 370,000 in 1793. The
colony’s pardos, morenos, and mulattos were highly dispersed, being
found throughout the major urban centers, coastal zones, rural areas, and in
selected portions of the northern frontier. Studies conducted over the past
two decades have assisted enormously in reconstructing the free-colored
demographic profile, with particular emphasis on occupational and marriage
patterns. Much of this research has resulted from sustained examinations of
the caste vs. class debate, which has attempted to understand the manner in
which the caste system worked in structuring colonial social relations. |
