Discuss The Impact Black People Have Had On Peruvian History And Culture

Discuss the black experience in Peru and what impact Afro-Descendants have had on Peruvian history and society, from the 15th century to present day.
There are no reliable population figures of the number of black people who currently reside in Latin America, mainly due to the lack of certainty and confusion regarding who is actually classed as black. It is roughly estimated however that theblack population of South America ranges somewhere between 19 and 67 million. Almost all blacks of African origin were imported to Latin America from West Africa between 1518 and 1873 via the Atlantic slave trade. It is estimated that over 10 million slaves were transported over the Atlantic, with the majority being sent to work on the sugar and coffee plantations in Brazil. Brazil was the largestimporter of blacks during the colonial period and this is reflected in its rich and vibrant African culture in Brazilian society that we see today. The same cannot be said however for Peru. Peru much like Mexico is often referred to as a mestizaje nation- a nation of mixed indigenous and European ancestry - when in fact Peru is a nation rich in African culture thanks to the hundred thousand slavesimported to Peru during the 15th and 16th century. The impact of black people in Peru is often left unmentioned and forgotten about when speaking about Peruvian history as the indigenous influence is often favoured, which has led me to explore the impact and influence blacks have had on Peruvian society from the colonial period to present day. During this essay I will discuss the black experiencein Peru and the subsequent impact is has had.
The first slaves arrived in Peru with the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1527. Following the sharp decline of the indigenous population due to the diseases brought over by the Europeans, the Spanish needed a new labour force in Peru and therefore turned to the Atlantic slave trade. Peru became one of the richest colonies in the new worldduring the 16th and 17th century as its land was rich in silver, gold and emeralds. This also increased the demand for slaves; by the 17th century over 100,000 African slaves had been imported to Peru. There were two types of slaves that were brought to Peru, ‘Bozales’ was a common term used to describe a slave that generally came straight from West Africa, described as being “unskilled anduntrained”. “Ladinos” was the term used to describe the other type of slaves, a black person of African descent who had adapted to Spanish culture and learnt to speak Spanish. The majority of the African slaves could be found along the coastal towns where they were forced to work on sugarcane and rice plantations of the northern coast or the vineyards and cotton fields of the southern coast, howeverthere was also the emergence of the ‘urban slave’ in Peru, these slaves worked as house servants/maids, hired help, artisans or skilled craftsmen. Urban slaves were more likely to be Ladinos, or Bozales willing to adapt to Spanish customs. It was generally the lighter skinned females who were hired as house servants, and the darker skinned Africans left to slave away outside. Henry Louis Gatescompares the two different types of slaves “Slaves in plantation areas worked long hours, sometimes lived in miserable conditions and were subject to very harsh punishment. Urban slavery was generally more fluid-there was the possibility of freedom. Plantation slavery was more permanent- a static condition.” (Gates, 2011). It was the urban slaves that led contemporary observers to come under theimpression that slavery in Peru was a lot more humane in comparison to other Latin American countries such as Brazil and Cuba where the slave populations were much larger in comparison. To an extent this is true due to certain legislations passed such as Simon Bolivar’s 1825 regulation of coastal haciendas which meant slave owners could only make their slaves work for a maximum 10 hours a day and could...