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Race and Badge: Free-Colored Soldiers in the Colonial Mexican Militia*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Ben Vinson III
Ben Vinson III*
Affiliation:
Barnard College, Columbia University, New York
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Extract

The question of identity has been one of considerable importance to the study of race in Latin America. Particularly for the multitude of racially mixed offspring produced by miscegenation, it has been debated, what exactly was the degree of consciousness that race could produce? What degree of strength, if any, should be attributed to the caste boundaries created in the colonial period, and how did the reins of “caste” contribute to the 19th and 20th century heritage of the region? With the new and emerging research on the African Diaspora in Latin America, the question has often been asked: did the free mulatto, moreno, or pardo ever feel a specific identity, especially during colonial times, and especially when racial discourse was apparently created by, and served the interests of those who held the supreme positions of power?

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , April 2000 , pp. 471 - 496
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 2000

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful insights and the Fulbright-Hays Commission for their generous financial support in making the research for this article possible.

References

1 For a sample of the literature and debates on race and class in Latin America see: Wade, Peter, Race and Ethnicity in Latin America (London and Chicago: Pluto Press, 1997);Google Scholar Chance, John K. and Taylor, William B., “Estate and Class in a Colonial City, Oaxaca in 1792,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 19, (1977): pp. 454–87;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Idem, , “The Ecology of Race and Class in Late Colonial Oaxaca,” in Studies in Spanish American Population History, ed. Robinson, David J. (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1981), pp. 93–117;Google Scholar Valdes, Dennis Nodin, “Decline of the Sociedad de Castas in Mexico City” (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan, 1978);Google Scholar Mönter, Magnus, “Economic Factors and Stratification in Colonial Spanish America with Special Regard to Elites,” Hispanic American Historical Review (HAHR) 63, No. 2 (1983): pp. 335–369;Google Scholar McAlister, Lyle N., “Social Structure and Social Change in New Spain,” HAHRA3, No. 3 (1963): pp. 349–370;Google Scholar Borah, Woodrow and Cook, Sherburne F., “Sobre las posibilidades de hacer el estudio histórico del mestizaje sobre una base demografica,” Revista de historia de América 53/54 (1962): pp. 181–190;Google Scholar Seed, Patricia, “The Social Dimensions of Race: Mexico City 1753,” HAHR 62, No. 4 (1982): pp. 569–606;Google Scholar Anderson, Rodney D., “Race and Social Stratification: A Comparison of Working-Class Spaniards, Indians and Castas in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1821,” HAHR 68, No. 2 (1988): pp. 209–41;Google Scholar Cope, R. Douglas, The Limits of Racial Domination, Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660–1720 (Madison, Wisconsin: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1994);Google Scholar Boyer, Richard, Caste and Identity in Colonial Mexico: A Proposal and an Example (Storrs, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Amherst, Massachusetts: Latin American Studies Consortium of New England, 1997);Google Scholar McCaa, Robert, Schwartz, Stuart B., and Grubessich, Arturo, “Race and Class in Colonial Latin America: A Critique,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 25 (1979): pp. 421–33;CrossRefGoogle Scholar with a reply to this article by Chance, and Taylor, , “Estate and Class: A Reply,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 25, (1979): pp. 434–42;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Bennett, Herman L., “Lovers, Family, and Friends: The Formation of Afro-Mexico, 1580–1810” (Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1993).Google Scholar

2 In the socio-racial nomenclature of the caste system, the term mulatto referred to the mixture of a black and white person. The moreno was euphemistic terminology for the negro, or the offspring of two black parents. The pardo was more problematic. It could technically refer to the mixture of a black and Indian, but depending upon the historical period it was used as a euphemism for the mulatto. Perhaps the best understanding of the pardo for colonial Mexico is as a brown skinned black, akin to the mulatto. However, in some circumstances, such as in early 18th century Veracruz, there could be distinctions drawn between mulattos and pardos. For more on racial nomenclature see: Rout, Leslie B. Jr., The African Experience in Spanish America, 1502 to the Present Day (Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1976), pp. 126–134;Google Scholar Beltrán, Gonzalo Aguirre, La población negra de Mexico, Estudio etnohistórico, 3rd ed. (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1989), pp. 153–194;Google Scholar and Mönter, , Race Mixture in the History of Latin America (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1967), pp. 53–73.Google Scholar

3 I use the term “blacks” loosely here to incorporate all the free-colored castes, including pardos, morenos, and mulattos.

4 Archer, Christon I., The Army in Bourbon Mexico, 1760–1810 (Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press, 1977);Google Scholar McAlister, Lyle N., The “Fuero Militar” in New Spain, 1764–1800 (Gainesville: Univ. of Florida Press, 1957).Google Scholar

5 Free-coloreds in 18th century Mexico were subject to 12-16 reales of tribute fees per year as full tributaries. See: Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), Californias, vol. 58, exp. 1, fs. 6–8, 70; AGN, Civil, vol. 130 pt 2, 1757, Mexico City, fs. 5–11.

6 Andrews, George Reid, The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1800–1900 (Madison, Wisconsin: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1980), pp. 113–137;Google Scholar Voelz, Peter M., Slave and Soldier: The Military Impact of Blacks in the Colonial Americas (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1993);Google Scholar Kuethe, Allan J., “The Status of the Free-Pardo in the Disciplined Militia of New Granada,” Journal of Negro History 56, No. 2 (1971): pp. 105–117;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Rout, , The African Experience, pp. 150–151;Google Scholar and Klein, Herbert S., “The Colored Militia of Cuba: 1568–1868,” Caribbean Studies 6, No. 2 (1966): pp. 17–27.Google Scholar

7 Archivo Judicial de Puebla, INAH Puebla, exp. 3108, fs. 1–277.

8 Carroll, Patrick J., Blacks in Colonial Veracruz: Race, Ethnicity, and Regional Development (Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 1991).Google Scholar

9 Kuethe, , “Status of the Free-Pardo,” pp. 105–117.Google Scholar

10 An initial examination of. these themes can be found in Vinson, Ben III, “Free-Colored Voices: Issues of Representation and Racial Identity in the Colonial Mexican Militia,” Journal of Negro History 80, No. 4(1995): pp. 170–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11 Hoffman, Paul E., The Spanish Crown and the Defense of the Caribbean, 1535–1585: Precedent, Patrimonialism, and Royal Parsimony (Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1980), p. 41.Google Scholar For additional information on the early free-colored militia in Mexico, as well as information on the 18th century see: Vinson, III, “Las compañías milicianas de pardos y morenos en la Nueva España, un aporte para su estudio,” in Población y estructura urbana en México, siglos XVIII y XIX, comp. Carmen Blázquez Domínguez, Carlos Contreras Cruz, and Sonia Pérez Toledo (Xalapa, Veracruz: Universidad Veracruzana, 1996), pp. 239–249;Google Scholar and Idem, ., “Bearing Arms for His Majesty: The Free-Colored Militia in Colonial Mexico” (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1998).Google Scholar

12 AGN, Indiferentes de Guerra (I.G.), vol. 197–B, Narcisso Sagarra, Ildifonso Silva, and Juan Pastor to Marques de Branciforte, 25 June 1795, Mexico City; Booker, Jackie, “Needed but Unwanted: Black Militiamen in Veracruz, Mexico, 1760–1810,” The Historian 55, (Winter 1993): pp. 260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 Palmer, Colin A., Slaves of the White God: Blacks in Mexico 1570–1650 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1976), pp. 28 and 119–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14 AGN, LG. 488-A, Ildefonso Arias de Saavedra to Dn. Pedro Mendinueta, 15 January 1788.

15 AGN, LG., vol. 231-B, Luis Bermudo Sonano, 1763; AGN, LG., vol. 490-A, 9 August 1766, Gorostiza to Villaba; AGN, LG., vol. 490–A, Gorostiza to Marques de Croix, 17 October 1766; AGN, LG., vol. 490–A, Gorostiza to Villaba, October 1766; and AGN, LG., vol. 484–A, Tomas Gil de Onzue to Martin Mayorga, 18 June 1781.

16 Fernández, Juan Marchena, Oficiales y soldados en el ejército de America (Seville: Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos, 1983), pp. 112–113;Google Scholar Kuethe, , Cuba, 1753–1815: Crown, Military, and Society (Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1986), pp. 6–7;Google Scholar Fernández, Marchena, Ejército y milicias en el mundo colonial Americano (Seville: Editorial Apfre, 1992), p. 166;Google Scholar de Seijas y Lobera, Francisco, Gobierno militar y politico del reino imperial de la Nueva España (1702), comp. Pablo Emilio Pérez-Mallaina Bueno (Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1986), pp. 261 and 400.Google Scholar

17 Calculations derived from Gerhard, Peter, “Un censo de la diócesis de Puebla en 1681,” Historia Mexicana, vol. 30, No. 4 (1981): pp. 534–536.Google Scholar Even after including the major urban centers in these coastal areas which tended to have greater proportions of whites, such as Veracruz, Acapulco, and Vieja Veracruz, españoles were still outnumbered by ratios of over 2:1.

18 Cook, and Borah, , Essays in Population History: Mexico and the Caribbean (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1974), 2: pp. 190–197.Google Scholar They define the central coastal areas as including the jurisdictions of Tamiagua, Acapulco, Igualapa, Huamelula, Xicayán, and Tehuantepec. Cozamaloapa and Veracruz are excluded on account of a lack of data.

19 Archer, , The Army in Bourbon Mexico, 168–171.Google Scholar

20 Idem, , “To Serve the King: Military Recruitment in Late Colonial Mexico,” HAHR 55, No. 2 (1975): pp. 226–250;Google Scholar and McAlister, Fuero Militar.

21 Juanino, Josefa Vega, La institución militar en Michoacán (Zamora, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán, 1986).Google Scholar

22 For an excellent overview of the 19th century Indian military participation see: Thomson, Guy P., “Los indios y el servicio militar en el México decimonónico, Leva o ciudania?” in Indio, nación y comunidad en el México del siglo XIX, Ed. Ohmstede, Antonio Escobar (Mexico City: CIESAS, 1993), pp. 207–251 Google Scholar. See also: Archer, , “Pardos, Indians, and the Army of New Spain: Inter-relationships and Conflicts, 1780–1810,” Journal of Latin American Studies 6, No. 2 (1974): pp. 246–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

23 Recopilación de leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, 1681, Libro III, Titulo X.

24 AGN, I.G., vol. 213–A, Francisco Crespo Ortiz, October 10, 1758, Veracruz; AGN, LG., vol. 252–B, Don Nicolas Lopez Padilla, 13 October 1772, Guadalajara; AGN, LG., vol. 46–A, Pedro Montesinos de Lara, 14 October 1758, Puebla.

25 Arnold, Linda, Bureaucracy and Bureaucrats in Mexico City, 1742–1835 (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988), pp. 24–55.Google Scholar For more on the Bourbon reforms in New Spain, see: Vázquez, Josefina Zoraida, ed., Interpretaciones del siglo XVIII Mexicano: El impacto de las Reformas Borbónicas (Mexico City: Nueva Imagen, 1992).Google Scholar

26 Hoffman, , The Spanish Crown, p. 40.Google Scholar

27 Some sources which demonstrate free-colored militia rank include: AGN, Civil, vol. 158, pt. 7, exp. 16, 1742, Puebla, fs. 1–9; AGN, I.G. vol. 296–B, Documentos pertenecientes al tercio del batallón de pardos de Puebla. Representaciones de su coronel, Manuel Bertel, y evidencias tomadas en el asunto sobre el arreglo de dicho cuerpo, fol. 29, 1756; AGN, Civil, vol. 130, pt. 2, exp. 3, 1742, Puebla, fs. 1–25; AGN, I.G. vol. 296–B, Relación de los méritos y servicios de Nicolas Bertel, s/f, 1743, Madrid.

28 AGN, I.G. 252–B, Don Nicolas Lopez Padilla, 13 October 1772, Guadalajara; AGN, LG. 46–A, Pedro Montesinos de Lara, Puebla, 14 October 1758.

29 For comparative information on other similar appointments see: Naylor, Thomas H. and Polzer, Charles W., eds., Pedro Rivera and the Military Regulations for Northern New Spain, 1724–1729, A Documentary History of His Frontier Inspection and the Reglamento de 1729 (Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press, 1988), p. 8.Google Scholar Also note that there were efforts launched by free-colored militiamen to re-install the inspection authority of the colonel in the 1750s. See: AGN, I.G. vol. 296–B, Documentos pertenecientes al tercio del batallon de pardos de Puebla. Representaciones de su coronel, Manuel Bertel, y evidencias tomadas en el asunto sobre el arreglo de dicho cuerpo, fol. 29, 1756.

30 AGN, Civil, vol. 158, pt 7, exp. 16, 1742, Puebla, fol. 8v.

31 While Acayucan is known in Mexico to have been a town of particularly troublesome reputation, 1 have noticed similar situations among free-coloreds in towns in the areas of Igualapa, Tamiagua, Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa, Papanoa, Petacalco, and Papantla. See: AGN, Californias, vol. 58, Testimonio al exp. formado a consulta del capitan del regimento…Don Joachin Pozos… 1784, fs. 34–52; AGN,Tierras, vol. 973, exp. 2, fs. 1–24v; AGN, Criminal, vol. 542 exp. 6, fs. 160–261; AGN, Tierras, vol. 1458, exp. 7, fs. 1–97v.

32 Some understanding of pardo/moreno labeling can be gleaned from: Recopilación de Leyes, Libro VII, Titulo V, fs. 285–291. While the examples of the state referring to free-coloreds as a community are vast, I would like to emphasize the situation of Tamiagua: AGN, Tierras, vol. 1458, exp. 7, fs. 1–97v.

33 AGN, Tierras, vol. 1458, exp. 7, fs. 1–97v.

34 Ibid.

35 For some examples of information sharing see: AGN, Civil, vol. 130, pt. 2, 1757, Mexico City, fs. 11–14; AGN, Civil, vol. 158, pt. 7, exp. 16, 1742, Puebla, fs. 1–16. Note that not all exchanges of information were intentional, and some happened by accident.

36 AGN, Californias, vol. 58, exp. 1, fs. 1–5; AGN, General de Parte, vol. 33, exps. 77–78, fs. 68–87; AGN, Tributos, vol. 40, exp. 11, fs. 182–192v; Recopilacion de Leyes, Libro VII, Titolo V, fol. 287v; and AGN, Reales Cédulas Originales, vol. 11, exp. 113, fs. 316–317. This last document intimates that the tribute exemption process may have been underway as early as 1669 in Veracruz, sparked by the appeals of militia captains Diego Perez and Francisco de Torres. However, the preponderance of evidence from other sources confirms the 1676 petition was the definitive push that secured the privilege.

37 AGN, I.G., vol. 492–A, exp. 3, Testimonio de las diligencias practicadas en el superior gobierno por representacion que hicieron a su ex.a los pardos y demás milicianos de la provincia de Goazacoalcos sobre la reelevacion de pasar al puerto de Veracruz cada que haiga novedad de hostilidades, por los fundamentos que expresan, 1767; and AGN, I.G., Tributos, vol. 40, exp. 11, fs. 167–233.

38 AGN, Tributos, vol. 34, exp. 7, fs. 163–173.

39 The term “contract” is used in the petition of the militiamen of Tamiagua: AGN, Californias, vol. 58, exp. 1, fs. 23–62.

40 AGN, Tributos, vol. 40, exp. 1, 1677. This document mainly discusses Indian exemption in Tabasco.

41 AGN, I.G. 502–A, Thomas Roncali to Mayorga, 13 February 1783, Acayucan.

42 AGN, I.G., vol. 307–B, Juan de Riva to Martin Mayorga, 10 December 1780, Mexico City.

43 AGN, I.G., vol. 307–B, Posada to Mayorga, 21 April 1781, Mexico City.

44 AGN, I.G., vol. 422–A, Francisco Cañaveral y Ponce to Martin Mayorga, 4 April 1781, Acapulco.

45 Borah, , “El gobernador novohispano (alcalde mayor/corregidor): Consecución del puesto y aspectos económicos,” in El gobierno provincial en la Nueva España, 1570–1787, ed. Borah, Woodrow (Mexico City: Universidad Autónoma de México, 1985), pp. 37–50;Google Scholar Taylor, , Magistrates of the Sacred: Priests and Parishioners in Eighteenth-Century Mexico (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996), p. 402.Google Scholar

46 The classic works include Gibson, Charles, The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico, 1519–1810 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964), pp. 194–203;Google Scholar Hassig, Ross, Trade, Tribute, and Transportation: The Sixteenth-Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985);Google Scholar and de Zorita, Alonso and Miranda, José, El tributo indigena en la Nueva España durante el siglo XVI (Mexico: 1952).Google Scholar Also important is Ouweneel, Arij, “Growth, Stagnation, and Migration: An Explorative Analysis of the Tributario Series of Anáhuac (1720–1800),” HAHR 71, No. 3 (1991): pp. 531–577.Google Scholar

47 AGN, I.G., vol. 492–A, Maritn de Solis, 2 June 1679, Mexico City; AGN, I.G., vol. 502-A, Pedro Moscoso, 7 February 1782, Acayucan.

48 Martin, Cheryl English, Rural Society in Colonial Morelos (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1985), pp. 149–153 Google Scholar; AGN, Padrones, vol. 18, fs. 209–305v; AGN, Californias, vol. 58, expediente formado a msta. de Don Phelipe Izusquiza, gefe de las compañías de caballería de Xicayan sobre que no matriculen en los tributarios los que son soldados, 1780; AGN, Tributos, vol. 34, exps. 46, fs. 106–117v; AGN, Tributos, vol. 40, exp. 9, fs. 81–159v. In Veracruz, Patrick Carroll has traced a shift in labor patterns from slaves to free workers. He notes a strong transition from slave to free workers between 1630–1720, intensifying after 1720. However, a glance at Adriana Naveda Chavez’s work on the 18 sugar haciendas registered in the area of Cordoba in 1788 reveal that although free-coloreds represented approximately 28% of the free-labor force, they comprised only 9% of total workers. Here, the majority of laborers continued to be slaves. In the smaller ranchos near Cordoba, of which 145 were registered in 1788, the percentage of free-coloreds was smaller, representing just over 7% of the labor force. None of the rancho workers were slaves. The patterns found in Naveda Chavez’s study are repeated further north in the Huasteca. Antonio Escobar notes that in 1743, almost half the hacienda residents were either pardo or mulatto, the majority being slaves. In all, there were 878 hacienda residents, of which 132 were pardos and 392 mulattos. Of the mulattos, 277 were slaves. Interestingly, although slaves may have comprised the core workforce on haciendas in the Huasteca and near Cordoba, evidence suggests that the alcaldes mayores did not radically alter their disposition towards extending privileges to free-coloreds in these areas, for fear of losing those free-coloreds that did play important labor roles on these estates. References include: Carroll, , Blacks in Colonial Veracruz, pp. 61–78;Google Scholar Chavez-Ita, Adriana Naveda, Esclavos negros en las haciendas azucareras de Cordoba Veracruz, 1690–1830 (Xalapa, Veracruz: Universidad Veracruzana, 1987), pp. 54–55;Google Scholar Ohmestede, Antonio Escobar, “La población en el siglo XVIII y principios del siglo XIX, Conformacion de una sociedad multiétnica en las Huastecas?,” in Población y estructura urbana en México, siglos XVIII y XIX, comp. Carmen Blázquez Domínguez, Carlos Contreras Cruz, and Sonia Pérez Toledo (Xalapa, Veracruz: Universidad Veracruzana, 1996), pp. 277–291.Google Scholar

49 For Guachinango see: AGN, Tributos vol. 40, exp. 11, fs. 167–233. Here, the teniente general suspended tribute payment in the late 1780s. The document also makes references to customary tribute exemptions in the jurisdictions of Papantla and Chicontepec. For Panuco and Tampico see: AGN, Tributos, vol. 40, exp. 15, fs. 270–74. For Xicayan see: AGN, Tributos, vol. 34, exp. 7, fs. 118–178v. For Tehuantepec see: AGN, Tributos, vol. 34, exp. 3, fs. 60–93. For discussion on Tabasco see: AGN, Tributos vol. 40, exp. 9, fs. 121–127.

50 My thinking here is shaped by Thompson, E.P., Customs in Common, Studies in Traditional Popular Culture (New York: The New Press, 1993).Google Scholar

51 For some background on changes in the tribute code see: de Fonseca, Fabian and de Urrutia, Carlos, Historia general de real hacienda (Mexico City: Vicente G. Torres, 1845), 4: pp. 436 and 475–76.Google Scholar

52 AGN, I.G., vol. 307–B, Juan de Riva to Martin Mayorga, 10 December 1780, Mexico City.

53 AGN, Civil, legajo 24, exp. 156, 1762, Acayucan, fol. 32.

54 Many late 19th century issues leading to the demise of free-colored militia duty are skillfully handled in Archer, , “Pardos, Indians, and the Army of New Spain,” pp. 231–244.Google Scholar Good information is also presented here on the continuance of the Veracruz companies in the post Revillagigedo era. See also: Booker, , “Black Militiamen,” pp. 270–274.Google Scholar

55 Some mention of the transition to the national militias can be found in: Archivo Histórico de Veracruz (AHV), caja 139, vol. 184, fs. 41–45, 1822,; AHV, caja 139, vol. 184, fs. 188–94, 1822.

56 Archivo General del Estado, Yucatán (AGEY), Apartado Colonial, Ramo Servicios Militares, vol. 1., exp. 7, 1801; AGEY, Apartado Colonial, Ramo Servicios Militares, vol. 1, exp. 8, 1801; AGEY, Apartado Colonial, Ramo Reales Cédulas, vol. 4, exp. 33, 1818.

57 AGEY, Apartado Colonial, Ramo Fondo Militar, vol. 1, exp. 22, 1806; AGEY, Apartado Colonial, Ramo Gobernación, vol. 1, exp. 7, 1809; AGEY, Apartado Colonial, Ramo Fondo Militar, vol. 1, exp. 13, 1798; Repetto, Francisco Fernández and Sierra, Genny Negroe, Una Población Perdida en la Memoria: Los Negros de Yucatán (Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico: Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán, 1995), pp. 54–57.Google Scholar For more background information see also: Rout, , The African Experience, pp. 154–155.Google Scholar

58 AGN, I.G., vol. 197–B, Narcisso Segarra, Ildefonso Silva, Juan Pastor, undated, Mexico City; AGN, I.G., vol. 197–B, Jose Arellano, Joseph Zambrano, Joaquin Medina, Jose Moreno, 3 July 1794, Puebla.

59 AGN, I.G., vol. 197–B, Josef Zambrano and Joaquin Medina, 26 November 1793, Puebla; AGN, I.G., vol. 197-B, Narcisso Segarra, Ildefonso Silva, Juan Pastor, undated, Mexico City; AGN, I.G., vol. 197–B, Jose Arellano, Joseph Zambrano, Joaquin Medina, Jose Moreno, 3 July 1794, Puebla.

60 AGN, I.G., vol. 197–B, Josef Zambrano and Joaquin Medina, 26 November 1793, Puebla.

61 Subdirección de Documentación de la Biblioteca Nacional de Historia (BNAH), Archivo Judicial de Puebla, rollos 43–45, Tributos, 1795, Puebla, unpaginated. My numbers are derived from comparing names from the list of soldiers registered in Veracruz’s fijo regiment in 1794–95, with those from the Battalion of Puebla in 1792. Also, please note that the vigia fund was a special tax levied on free-coloreds to underwrite the costs of manning watchtowers along the coasts of Veracruz. Being a militiaman, however, did reduce the overall financial burden of the tax. See: Archer, , “Pardos, Indians, and the Army of New Spain,” p. 243.Google Scholar

62 A castizo was the mixture of an español and a mestizo.

63 Problems with recruitment can be found in Archer, , The Army in Bourbon Mexico, pp. 223–253.Google Scholar Whites would even claim to be Indians to avoid recruitment.

64 BNAH, Archivo Judicial de Puebla, rollo 2, Batallón fijo de pardos y morenos de Veracruz sobre averiguar la lista de pardos tributarios. Incluye lista de los que han servido en Puebla a dicho batallón, 1794, Puebla, fol. 45.