Livin’ Just Enough for the City: Manumission Strategies in Córdoba

Slaves’ astute understanding of their geo-political environment ultimately brought them success in seeking their freedom in the city of Córdoba. By examining manumission strategies from court cases and notarial records, the freeing rhetoric used in these documents revealed Córdoba’s race relations to remain hierarchical, despite the introduction of revolutionary language such as ‘citizen’ or the participation of slave soldiers in the fight for independence (1810-1816). I argue race relations revealed larger societal practices and ultimately demonstrated despite Córdoba’s acceptance of independence in 1820 it remained conservative.