Distribution of Manumitted by Color, Gender, Age, and Form of Manumission in Selected Cities.*
| . | Buenos Aires 1776-1810 % . | Bahia 1684-1745 % . | Bahia 1813-1853 % . | Paraty 1789-1822 % . | Lima 1580-1650 % . | Mexico City 1589-1650 % . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Color | ||||||
| Negro | 51.3 | 54.4 | 80.1 | 50.6 | — | — |
| Mulatto | 48.7 | 45.6 | 19.9 | 49.4 | — | — |
| Total | (1316) | (945) | (657) | (320) | — | — |
| Gender | ||||||
| Female | 58.8 | 66.9 | 67.3 | 65.5 | 67.7 | 61.5 |
| Male | 41.2 | 33.1 | 32.7 | 34.5 | 32.3 | 38.5 |
| Total | (1482) | (1150) | (686) | (325) | (294) | (104) |
| Age** | ||||||
| 0-5 | 14.6 | 9.2 | — | 22.0 | 36.0 | 41.5 |
| 6-13 | 7.1 | 35.6 | — | 19.8 | 15.9 | 12.3 |
| 14-45 | 67.0 | 52.3 | — | 43.3 | 35.5 | 33.9 |
| 46-over | 11.3 | 2.9 | — | 14.9 | 12.6 | 12.3 |
| Total | (937) | (763) | — | (268) | (214) | (65) |
| Form*** | ||||||
| Gratis | 29.3 | — | 31.5 | 26.1 | 33.8 | 39.3 |
| Purchased | 59.8 | — | 46.0 | 31.4 | 47.8 | 36.4 |
| Conditional | 10.9 | — | 22.5 | 42.5 | 18.4 | 24.3 |
| Total | (1356) | — | (561) | (325) | (299) | (107) |
| . | Buenos Aires 1776-1810 % . | Bahia 1684-1745 % . | Bahia 1813-1853 % . | Paraty 1789-1822 % . | Lima 1580-1650 % . | Mexico City 1589-1650 % . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Color | ||||||
| Negro | 51.3 | 54.4 | 80.1 | 50.6 | — | — |
| Mulatto | 48.7 | 45.6 | 19.9 | 49.4 | — | — |
| Total | (1316) | (945) | (657) | (320) | — | — |
| Gender | ||||||
| Female | 58.8 | 66.9 | 67.3 | 65.5 | 67.7 | 61.5 |
| Male | 41.2 | 33.1 | 32.7 | 34.5 | 32.3 | 38.5 |
| Total | (1482) | (1150) | (686) | (325) | (294) | (104) |
| Age** | ||||||
| 0-5 | 14.6 | 9.2 | — | 22.0 | 36.0 | 41.5 |
| 6-13 | 7.1 | 35.6 | — | 19.8 | 15.9 | 12.3 |
| 14-45 | 67.0 | 52.3 | — | 43.3 | 35.5 | 33.9 |
| 46-over | 11.3 | 2.9 | — | 14.9 | 12.6 | 12.3 |
| Total | (937) | (763) | — | (268) | (214) | (65) |
| Form*** | ||||||
| Gratis | 29.3 | — | 31.5 | 26.1 | 33.8 | 39.3 |
| Purchased | 59.8 | — | 46.0 | 31.4 | 47.8 | 36.4 |
| Conditional | 10.9 | — | 22.5 | 42.5 | 18.4 | 24.3 |
| Total | (1356) | — | (561) | (325) | (299) | (107) |
The sources for this table were: Buenos Aires: AGN, Escribanía, Registros 1-7, years 1776-1810; Bahia, 1684-1745: Schwartz, “The Manumission of Slaves in Colonial Brazil;” Bahia, 1813-1853: Kessler, “Bahian Manumission Practices;” Paraty: Kiernan, “Baptism and Manumission” and “The Manumission of Slaves in Colonial Brazil: Paraty, 1789-1822;” Lima and Mexico: Bowser, “The Free Persons of Color in Lima and Mexico City.”
Unfortunately there is no clear comparability among these sources for the variable age. The cohorts 0-5, 6-13, 14—45, and 46 and over were used for Buenos Aires and for Bahia, 1684-1725. For Paraty, the actual cohorts are 0-5, 6-14, 15-44, and 45 and over. In the cases of Lima and Mexico City, the cohorts are 0-7, 8-15, 16-45, and 46 and over.
Because owners occasionally placed limiting conditions on gratis or purchased manumissions granted to slaves, each writer on manumission has used some discretion in coding the variable form of manumission. I have attempted to reorganize the data from these earlier studies to fit the analytical categories used for Buenos Aires. Hopefully, the table does not misrepresent the original data. For this table, the values are defined: Gratis, no monetary payment and no substantial additional service; Purchased, monetary payment only or monetary payment and inconsequential additional service; Conditional, promise of freedom at a future date, usually upon completion of substantial service or upon death of owner.