Latest / New Books in African American Studies
Norah L. A. Gharala, "Taxing Blackness: Free Afromexican Tribute in Bourbon New Spain" (U of Alabama Press, 2019)
During the eighteenth century, hundreds of thousands of free descendants of Africans in Mexico faced a highly specific obligation to the Spanish crown, a tax based on their genealogy and status. This royal tribute symbolized imperial loyalties and social hierarchies. As the number of free people of color soared, this tax became a reliable source of revenue for the crown as well as a signal that colonial officials and ordinary people referenced to define and debate the nature of blackness. Taxing Blackness: Free Afromexican Tribute in Bourbon New Spain (University of Alabama Press, 2019)…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.