The Power of Their Will: Slaveholding Women in Nineteenth-Century Cuba by The Power of Their Will. Slaveholding Women in Nineteenth-Century Cuba (2021)

Author:The Power of Their Will. Slaveholding Women in Nineteenth-Century Cuba (2021)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2021-02-16T23:43:36+00:00

Though not common, there were cases in which mistresses became so close to some young slaves, especially if they had acted as godmother to them, that they turned them into surrogate children.⁵¹ Elena Ducté (also spelled Doute), a slaveholder from Santiago de Cuba who had been born in the French colony of Saint Domingue, formally adopted a slave girl and left her an inheritance. Ducté is never identified in her will as doña, but rather is given the title of mademoiselle. In the presence of two translators, she stated in her will that she herself was an illegitimate daughter and had remained single all her life, and was therefore without legitimate heirs—though, she revealed surprisingly, she herself had had seven illegitimate children, all of whom had died without successors (figure 4.1). When she wrote her will, she owned a small but debt-free house and corresponding plot on Gallo Street in Santiago, as well as eight slaves: Pedro, alias Primero; Sebastián, alias Luben; Sefiro; Esteban, alias Azoz; Antonia; Victoria; Isabel, alias Emé; and Noberta. Not having successors, she was free to leave her belongings to whomever she chose, presumably friends from the French community. She left Leonardo Vizet 200 pesos and appointed him her only and universal heir (para que todo lo haya, goce y herede con la bendición de Dios en mi nombre). She left three of the enslaved men—Pedro, Sebastián, and Sefiro—to don Antonio Vizet. She chose to set free the other five slaves—Esteban, Antonia, Victoria, and Isabel and her daughter Noberta—so that “they enjoy full freedom after my days, getting the corresponding manumission letters.” What made her free five of her slaves and keep three of them in bondage? As seen previously, the reasons why some slaves were freed and others were not seemed to depend on personal ties with their mistresses. Slaves who had the opportunity to be perceived as loyal, faithful, affectionate, and useful, those who were in contact with their owners regularly enough to form personal ties, were the ones most likely to be set free or to receive other testimonies of appreciation. Ducté’s testament includes a document confirming the executor’s issuance of the manumission letters to the slaves who were to be freed.

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