page_title: Afro-Peruvians
section_title: Slave trade
hierarchical_section_title: Afro-Peruvians / Slave trade
caption_attribution_description: Español: Acuarela de Pancho Fierro (Lima, 1807 - Lima, 1879)
context_page_description: Afro-Peruvians are citizens of Peru descended from Africans who were enslaved and brought to Peru after the arrival of the conquistadors.
context_section_description: Over the course of the slave trade, approximately 95,000 slaves were brought into Peru, with the last group arriving in 1850. Often slaves were initially transported to Cuba and Hispaniola, from where traders brought them to Panama and the Viceroyalty of Peru. Planters and others also purchased slaves in Cartagena, Colombia or Veracruz, Mexico, at trade fairs, and they returned to Peru with the new slaves imported by the slave ships. As a result of the "New laws" of 1548 and the influence of the denunciation of the abuses against Native Americans by Friar Bartolomé de las Casas, slaves gradually replaced natives at the encomiendas.
  Slave owners in Peru developed preferences to have slaves from specific areas of Africa (believed to have certain characteristics); they wanted to have slaves of one area who could communicate with each other. They believed slaves from Guinea, from the Senegal River down to the Slave Coast, were easier to manage and had marketable skills. They already knew how to plant and cultivate rice, train horses, and herd cattle on horseback. The slave owners also preferred slaves from the area stretching from Nigeria to eastern Ghana. The slave owners' third choice was for slaves from Congo, Mantenga, Cambado, Misanga, Mozambique, Madagascar, Angola, Terranova (who were probably bought in Porto-Novo, Benin) and Mina.
  In the 17th century some owners began the process of manumission of people of color. In some cases, slaves were allowed to buy their freedom, and a free Afro-Peruvian social class emerged. Slaves had to pay a high amount to buy their freedom; some were allowed to earn money on the side or, if leased out, keep a portion of their earnings. Others raised loans, and some were granted freedom by their master. Even when free, independent blacks were not considered equal to Spaniards. Free people of color enjoyed equal privileges in certain aspects, for instance, there are records of free Africans buying and selling land as well. Freed blacks engaged in various entrepreneurial activities, of which trade was a significant factor. Some people of African descent became owners of shops. But, the status of a free citizen brought new challenges and conditions that a man of color had to face. A freed person of color needed to have a job, was required to pay the tribute, was called to serve in the militia to defend the state. All were under supervision of the Holy Office.
  The Crown raised revenues on the freed black population. A decree that compelled former slaves to hire themselves out to and reside with a Spaniard master was another way to limit freedom of emancipated blacks. While some did stay with Spanish in order to save money, the large majority successfully defied the rule and began building "joint communities" to support each other. A discrimination policy with big and long-term impact was the exclusion of blacks and mulattoes from education. Universities and schools largely run by the Church forbade the non-white population to enroll, under the justification that they were "unworthy of being educated". Wealthy, skilled, capable mulattoes however made their way through the political ladder and achieved occupation of minor official posts.
  In 1821, General José de San Martín outlaws slave trade in Peru.
  In 1835, President Felipe Santiago Salaverry signed a decree again legalizing the deportation of slaves through the other Latin American countries. Thus, two years after his death, will be removed from the constitution the principle of "emancipating soil" according to which a slave entering Peru is, de facto, made free.
  In 1854, President Ramón Castilla y Marquezado declared slavery abolished.
  Today, Afro-Peruvian communities celebrate the landmark decision of Castilla with a popular refrain:
  The newly freed citizens typically took the last name of their former owners. For instance, slaves in the service of the Florez family named themselves "Florez" or "Flores".
  Despite the gradual emancipation of most black slaves in Peru, slavery continued along the Pacific coast of South America throughout the 
caption: Son de los Diablos, an Afro-Peruvian dance which is based in the Diablada and African rhythms. Painting by Pancho Fierro.
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