Paper short abstract:

This paper will examine slavery in the Andean region of Venezuela between 1821-54, analysing the experiences of masters and slaves and the legal and ideological framework that shaped their relationship in the republican period.

Paper long abstract:

Slavery figured prominently in Venezuela's independence struggles between 1810 and 1821. Yet, despite oft repeated discourses of freedom and equality, promises of emancipation by many of the protagonists, the end of the slave trade and a free birth law in 1821, the institution of slavery survived the end of Spanish rule. This paper examines the reconstitution of slavery in Venezuela following independence, focusing upon the experiences of slaves in the Andean region. It aims to understand what changed and what stayed the same for those who remained slaves - and masters - after 1821, paying particular attention to gender and age. It also seeks to analyse the relationship between colonial ideas and laws regarding slavery and the liberal republican legal and theoretical framework that came afterwards.