The Black Seat was the monopolistic trade system through which Hispano-America was supplied with African slave labor throughout the Modern Age and much of the Contemporary Age. It supplied the landowners and financed the state coffers, but it was also a nest of corruption and smuggling. The most globalized commercial system until the Industrial Revolution, initiated by collection efforts.
When speaking of slavery in Spanish America today, it is usually attributed to indigenous slavery, when the one that really prevailed and remained is ignored, the traffic of blacks. This survived until well into the 19th century in Spain, becoming an essential source of support in many kingdoms of the Monarchy. And there were not a few who supported him.
The remedy of the Christians is this, very true, that Your Majesty be good enough to lend to each of these islands five or six hundred blacks, or whatever it seems that they currently have enough to be distributed among the neighbors, and that today they do not have anything but Indians. One, Gentlemen, of the great causes that have contributed to the loss of this land is not freely granting to all those who wish to bring the licenses of blacks..
Bartholomew of the Houses (1535)
Brief notes on the Conquest of America, situation and workforce
Regardless of the subsequent treatment given by the Hispanic Monarchy to its Indian subjects, what is not in doubt is the harshness of the conquest. In this, all kinds of factors came into action, such as pure territorial expansion, the desire for personal enrichment, a slave trade first intention, evangelizing missions (forced or not), etc.
Given this, the original population weakened tangibly, although not in an excessively alarming percentage. What really made the population decrease were diseases along with the hard work that was forced on them in the beginning. In all human history, every great epidemic is preceded by times of famine, which make the population more vulnerable to the future plague. In this case such famine corresponded to wars prior to the European presence. And this in turn transmitted to the people of the new continent diseases such as typhus, smallpox, diphtheria, measles or influenza, against which they had not developed any type of antibody due to their novelty. These, added in some cases to hard work, did nothing but aggravate the percentage of deaths.
But there was a problem in this regard, that the new lords of the place, replacing previous elites, wanted workers for their new farms. These were either fields of cultivation or mines, of which not a few would be discovered and which were exploited as much as the monarchy could. (Vilar, 2015: 17)
First slaves and protection of the Indian
In the early phases of American colonization the laws that would protect the Indians were not yet devised. As an example of this we have Christopher Columbus himself, who on his first maiden voyage captured several Tahino Indians as slaves to take them to the continent. This did not exactly please the monarchy of the Catholic Monarchs, who intended to evangelize and treat the new inhabitants as more subjects.
That is why Fernando el Católico in 1512 published the Laws of Burgos, by which, among other things, equal treatment was granted to locals, having to pay tribute to the monarch through parcels (where they used to be exploited). And, after three decades, Carlos I published the New Laws of the Indies in 1542 to completely free the Indians and improve their situation. Obviously the practice used to disagree with the theory, but over time the efforts, to a lesser or greater extent, had some effect. (Fernández, 2011: 21)
Division of the Spanish-Portuguese world and Spanish dependency
However, these new discoveries could not be organized by complete chance. Other exploring powers such as Portugal were on the trail of new lands from which to take advantage and both monarchies preferred to understand each other diplomatically. In 1494 they signed the Treaty of Tordesillas in the homonymous population by which the world was divided into areas of influence and conquest. Marking a line from both poles, Portugal was granted all that up to 370 leagues west of Cape Verde; In short, Portugal was left with Africa and, as it turned out, a small coastal strip in present-day Brazil. (Fernández, 2011: 20)
After the prohibition of the enslavement of the American premises, and the African origin of the slaves used, we come across an obvious result: Spain will be dependent in this field until well into the 18th century. There were certain enclaves in the North African Mediterranean, but slaves were not traded there. Therefore, by not having access to that trade at its origin, always had to rely on third parties for the supplywhich, precisely, was not always very advantageous.
Triangular Trade and Obtaining Slaves
At its height, slavery became the most widespread commercial activity until the time of industrialization, since any power that had capacity ended up carrying it out. Even Prussia had certain colonies in Guinea (Clark, 2016: 71). In this trade, the so-called Triangular Trade came to be put into practice: the products obtained in Europe were used to obtain products (mainly slaves) in Africa, which were used to obtain others in America that were resold in Europe to restart the wheel, although, Obviously, it is more complex.
In points of such difficult settlement, such as Africa, one could not antagonize all the locals, since obtaining food and a source of subsistence was critical. Once the natives knew the European present and agreed to provide him with food, the most complicated thing had been resolved. European enclaves were usually located in so-called African “factories”, preferably coastal fortified positions protected by the fleet and a garrison. His representatives, to obtain the consent of the local chief, had to ingratiate themselves with him with all kinds of gifts, usually trinkets, and thus allow the slave trade.
These slaves could be obtained through Arab intermediaries or, usually, thanks to wars between the locals. The image that we currently have of Europeans venturing into the interior of a jungle and capturing blacks did occur, but it was far from common or systematized. Products such as printed cotton fabrics bought in Amsterdam were brought from Europe, which they called “indianas”, cowries (shells), glass beads, weapons and ammunition. In the case of the latter, each black was equivalent to 6 rifles or 100 pounds (45 kg) of gunpowder. Then the locals provided the corresponding blacks, normally the product of prisoners of war or previous slaves (Fernández, 2011: 80). The same way blacks had a “mark” of quality for which they were renamed Pieces of the Indies, depending on their height, physical form, health, origin, etc., being more expensive; and depreciating equally if they had physical defects.
Once the factory fleet arrived, the factor in charge provided the agreed slaves. It then embarked for America, with different stops according to nationality, to immediately disembark the “pieces” at the entrance of different ports (if it did not disembark beforehand on Caribbean islands), previously following a series of records that varied over time. Then they received the agreed money according to its price and, with part of it, they bought local products such as sugar, cocoa or indigo to sell them in Europe. The trip to complete the triangle could last up to 18 months. (Vega, 1984: 89)
One of the main reasons why, already in the 17th century, powers such as England or France competed for possession of the Seat of Negros in Spanish America was the reward they received. Few places in the world provided such an amount of silver as America, from which the Real de a 8 was then obtained. This Spanish currency was the payment that the asentistas received, and the main reason for their search (Fernandez, 2011: 40 ). Thanks to this excellent quality coin, with up to 25 grams of silver per unit, the English were able to easily access the international market, of which it was the currency, and, above all, trade with China, which required silver for its transactions. , which was then melted. (Fernandez, 2011: 144)
The seat. Regulation, licenses and Portuguese. (1595 – 1638)
In its first decade the slave trade was free, acquiring and selling whoever wanted, but it did not last. In 1513 began to legislate on the matter. Anyone who wanted to sell blacks in America had to buy a license per head, setting its price at 2 ducats (Vilar, 2015: 16). Soon the administration saw the yield that could be obtained from the situation, increasing its price to 30 ducats and 20 reais in 50 years (Vilar, 2015: 35). With the union with Portugal, the Crown resorted to its renderers, landowners with land on the African coast, providing slaves for the Indian women. Meanwhile, on the peninsula, the Consejo de Indias on the one hand and the Casa de Contratación with the Consulate of Seville on the other disputed who should be attributed the monopoly and management of this buoyant business; it would take time to pay off, not winning any.
As early as 1589 favorable reports of a monopoly appeared, finally creating the “Asiento” (monopoly) of Negros in 1594 that the Portuguese merchant Pedro Gómez Reinel acquired for 100,000 ducats. It was legislated to the maximum in this regard; he had to transport up to 4,250 slaves per year, selling licenses at 30 ducats and having to pay an additional 100,000 ducats per year, giving an initial 150,000 as bail. He points out that he could take his slaves on loose ships, violating the convoy system, further bothering the Consulate of Seville (Vilar, 2015: 47). This assent did not last long, arrested for fraud, signing a new seat Juan Rodríguez Coutiño, governor of Angola, for 170,000 ducats with 250 bail.
Soon Juan died, taking over his brother Gonzalo, who would pay 140,000 ducats a year to the Crown (Vilar, 2015: 52). The obstacles followed one another, with a combative consulate trying to inspect all ships in Seville as they could not include them in the convoys; thus they weighed down the business, quietly continuing the smuggling. The slave trade to Seville proved counterproductive, with the trade falling sharply between 1611 and 1614 due to these impediments. The situation was only beneficial for the smugglers. (Vilar, 2015: 59)
A new seat was offered, having to bring 4,250 blacks a year to the ports of Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia, Veracruz, in Mexico, and 150 to Buenos Aires. Fernández Delvás acquired it for 115,000 ducats, monopolizing the trade that had to be withdrawn due to the real inability to control it. The next, more successful seat ended in 1638, but when it came to renewing the…