Asian Slaves in Colonial Mexico: From Chinos to Indians

During the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, countless slaves from culturally diverse communities in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia journeyed to Mexico on the ships of the Manila Galleon. Upon arrival in Mexico, they were grouped together and categorized as chinos. Their experience illustrates the interconnectedness of Spain's colonies and the reach of the crown, which brought people together from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe in a historically unprecedented way. In time, chinos in Mexico came to be treated under the law as Indians, becoming indigenous vassals of the Spanish crown after 1672. The implications of this legal change were enormous: as Indians, rather than chinos, they could no longer be held as slaves. Tatiana Seijas tracks chinos' complex journey from the slave market in Manila to the streets of Mexico City, and from bondage to liberty. In doing so, she challenges commonly held assumptions about the uniformity of the slave experience in the Americas.

Author: Tatiana Seijas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 06/23/2014
Pages: 300
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781107063129

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2015 pg. 1039

About the Author
Seijas, Tatiana: - Tatiana Seijas is Associate Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University.