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LACS Lecture. Judicial Abolitionism in Nineteenth- Century Spanish America: Afro-Uruguayan Soldiers and Spanish Diarist José María Márquez

Alex Borucki, University of California, Irvine
Monday, March 25, 2019
4:00-6:00 PM
Room 1014 Tisch Hall Map
This presentation examines how judicial litigation about the freedom of formerly enslaved black soldiers in late 1820s Montevideo shaped the first arguments about the abolition of slavery in the newly created country of Uruguay. Spanish diarist José María Márquez, who occupied the position of “Public Attorney for the Poor and Slaves” in Montevideo, published in his newspaper stories about the black soldiers he defended. This news became the first public arena to discuss the complete abolition of slavery. The actions of former slaves then black soldiers and their negotiations to secure freedom provided strong arguments and nationalist bases for conceiving a plan for full abolition. Through the lens of these actions and the communication between the courts and the public arena, here we examine judicial actions as one of the sources of abolitionism in the newly formed Spanish American republics, instead of Anglo-centric and North Atlantic models of abolitionist societies and newspapers.

Alex Borucki is associate professor of history in the University of California, Irvine, where he also is director of the Latin American Studies Center. He is the author of From Shipmates to Soldiers: Emerging Black Identities in the Río de la Plata (University of New Mexico Press, 2015), which was finalist of the 2016 Harriet Tubman Book Prize. Apart from Spanish-language books and articles published in Argentina and Uruguay, he has published articles on the slave trade and the African diaspora in the American Historical Review, Hispanic American Historical Review, Colonial Latin American Review, The Americas, History in Africa, Itinerario, Atlantic Studies, and Slavery and Abolition.

This event is generously co-sponsored by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the Department of History at the University of Michigan.

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If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation to attend this event, please reach out to us at least 2 weeks in advance of this event. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange. Contact: alanarod@umich.edu
Building: Tisch Hall
Event Type: Lecture / Discussion
Tags: Anthropology, Discussion, Latin America, Law, Lecture
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, International Institute, Department of History

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