In 1776, the merchant trade in Buenos Aires was suffering from lack of skilled craftsmen.
Fransisco Baquero was a mestizo shoe maker in Buenos Aires who had mastery of his craft, yest could not manage to make ends meet as a master shoemaker in the twon, despite having nearly twenty years of experience.
For many years, attempts to make a craftsmen’s guild marched on with few results.
Baquero became a representative for local non-white craftsmen in the area, petitioning for their rights.
He fought fiercely for his cause until 1799, even going as far as to sail to Madrid for legal help in drafting documents for petition. In spite of all his efforts, he never succeeded in doing more than rousing local merchants and procuring debt.
Juan and Gertudis were both slaves living in Mexico during the seventeenth century who share a similar story.
They were both very intelligent and were unusually well educated for slaves. Juan, because he was the son of a white priest, learned to read, write, and do remedial arithmetic. Gertudis was born free, but was likely sold off by her Aunt, one of the only remaining family members she had left.
They each had very grueling experiences as slave, being tortured relentlessly and with little mercy.
Both attempted to escape sever times and seek aid from the inquisition.
Little is known what happened to either one, that is, whether they died slaves, or were granted mercy by the inquisition.
Bequer was a prebend who was born in Peru during the end of the seventeenth century.
Cristobal, his father, and his brother were all implicated in the murder of one Pedro de Torres in 1714.
Cristobal and his brother fled Lima for the mountains where is brother later died.
Cristobal entered the service of the church as a prebend. Although he had no formal schooling which qualified him for the position, he managed to continue on this career path, shrouding his past, until the later years of his life.
As Bequer grew older, he seemed to have grown more comfortable and confident in his ability to elude any disciplinary actions, and his behavior began to decline.
In the late 1740’s Bequer became accustomed to accosting women in the town square, and on numerous occasions openly attacked people, such as Thomas Berris, who he bludgeoned with a church key.
In the end, it was his obsession with a Fabiana Sotomayor, a widow and local merchant, which was his inevitable downfall. His aggressive sexual behavior towards her, as well as his violent behavior toward her male friends eventually led to attempted disciplinary action.
Bequer managed to delay any hearing on his behalf until his death in 1753. He lived his entire life with little reprimand for his actions.
Isabel Moctezuma was born Tecuichpotzin in 1509, the first legitimate offspring of a staggering 150 overall of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II.
After the death of her father, she was taken under the care of the conqueror, Fernando Cortes.
She was Christened Isabel, and the town a Tacuba as part of her birthright to the Aztec throne.
She married two Indians and three Spaniards: her Uncle Cuitlahuac, her cousin Cuauhtemec, Alonso de Grado, Pedro Gallego de Andrade, and her longest and most fruitful marriage to Juan Cano de Saavedra.
She gave birth to seven children from three different men, one of which was Cortes.
She was well known for her integration into white European society in Mexico, and as such served as an example of the native’s ability to adapt to the new society.
Beatriz de Padilla
Accused by Don Juan Sanchez in 1650 of poisoning one of her lovers and driving another crazy with magic.
Brought before an inquisition in Mexico City, she admitted to being of harsh character, especially to slaves in her household, but denied any wrongdoing in the death of her lover, Diego Ortiz.
Instead it was revealed that there was a complicated family situation in which the relatives of Ortiz were upset with him for planning to leave the entirety of his estate to the young woman. As a result, they attempted to do away with her by means of accusation.
Andres Lopez had been called upon to receive Beatriz’s deposition. He happened to have a personal grudge against her because she had given birth to his brother’s child, and the stole her sister’s fiancé.
To her good fortune, Beatriz was acquitted and sent home without any reprimand or punishment.
She is a prime example of the ability of colored women to thrive in the Spanish Americas, as she was not held to the same strict social code as white European women.
Miguel Hernandez was a free mulatto living in Mexico in the sixteenth century.
He was an unusual case, being that he was a man of color, and yet acquired an education, raised a family, and became a respectfully successful business man in his community.
Much of what is known about him is attributed strictly to his ability to sign his name, a skill which was uncommon among mulattos, blacks and Indians, and help to distinguish him from all of the other Miguel Hernandezes.
He was married to a common Indian woman named Ana Hernandez, little of which is know because there were so many women with the name, and the is little to distinguish her from the others. Together, they had several children.
It speaks great volumes about Hernandez's intelligence and respectability that he was able to conduct business successfully. Man men of color were run out of business and did not have the social pull to receive any credible backing.
As was also unusual, he owned mules, land and even slaves.
Hernandez died suddenly in 1604 of causes that are still not clear. He left equal shares of his wealth to each of his children.
Conquistadors - Cortes
Hernan Cortes grew up poor in the small town of Medellin, Spain.
Ironically, for one of the new world’s great worriors, Cortes was a lawer.
He financed his own expedition to the Yucatan with eleven ships, and five hundred soldiers in April of 1519.
Upon his arrival to the new world, Cortes headed west toward the Tobasco River and landed in Fronteras.
Conquistadors - Cortes
Before leaving for the Yucatan, Cortes had in his employ a sailor who spoke Mayan; but much to his great fortune, upon arriving in Fronteras, a local chief gifted to Cortes a local slave girl named Malinalli who spoke Mayan and Nahuatl.
It is said that Malinalli fell hopelessly in love with Cortes. What we do know for sure, is that she was treated well and served as a guide for Cortes and his men, translating when necessary.
As fate would have it, the young slave girl would lead Cortes to his glory, and her own people to their deaths.
As he sails West, he inquires amongst the indigenous people as to the location of the lands gold which leads him toward the mainland of Mexico.
Conquistadors - Cortes
Cortes landed on the Isle of Sacrifices, in the vicinity of modern day Vera Cruz. It is there that he first encounters the Aztecs.
Easter Sunday, 1519, the Ruler of Mexico sends out an embassy to intercept Cortes. Much to the surprise of Cortes, the Aztecs offer him gifts of gold.
Cortes perpetuates the ruse that he is the ambassador of a great king and scrapes together what he can to offer gifts in exchange. Then he cunningly requests of the Aztecs more gold by claiming that he and his men have a disease of the heart which can only be cured with the precious metal.
The Aztecs here taken aback by Cortes and his men and horses. They invited Cortes to make camp at Villa Rica. Local natives were very curious, as there was a legend that the gods would come to claim the land of the then ruler Montezuma.
Conquistadors - Cortes
Cortes's men grew paranoid about breaching the boundries of the great Aztec empire inland, and so a mutany bagan to break out. Cortes responded by killing the leader of the insurgency and scuttling the boats.
With the support of outside natives, Cortes headed for the Aztec land, taking the rear road inward, Tenochtitlan. Among his group, Cortes had 300 conquistadors, several hundred Indians, and Cuban servants.
They traveled thirteen thousand feet upward in weather conditions that were treacherous for their ill preparation, passing over the Nombre de Dios, and on towards the fertile land of Tlaxcala. There he expected to gain shelter from the local people who hated the Aztecs, but instead, they attacked Cortes and his men. However, Cortes and his men staved off the attack and won the favor of the Tlaxcalans.
Conquistadors - Cortes
Cortes and the Tlaxcala marched toward the Aztec empire, leaving the bodies and ruined cities of those who opposed in their wake. They arrived in the valley of Mexico in November of 1519.
Montezuma led Cortes to his palace where he offered him the ability to rest. As a guest, Montezuma led Cortes around the city and into the sacred temples where the two cultures immediately came to a clash.
Cortes attempted to assumed control of the Aztec by puppeting Montezuma, but the people rose up and killed the emperor. They quarantined the Spaniards, cutting off their food and water, forcing Cortes to attempt an escape.
Succeeding in pulling most of his men from the city, Cortes moved further inland, where he ingeniously built boats which to launch an attack.
Cortes cur off the few roads leading onto the island and starved the people of Mexico city. Once weakened, Cortes lead his army of conquistadors and natives into the heart of the city, where he took power of the Aztec Empire.