Abstract

PEREZ MORALES, Edgardo. “Servile Freedom”: Juridical Uncertainty and Legal Creativity on the Road to Emancipation (1789-1824). Front. hist. [online]. 2023, vol.28, n.2, pp.126-144.  Epub July 01, 2023. ISSN 2027-4688.  https://doi.org/10.22380/20274688.2493.

By studying the life of José María Martínez and his “servile freedom” concept, this article presents a variation on the theme of the legal uncertainty of slavery in freedom strategies. It posits that slavery was never clearly defined from a juridical standpoint, arguing that slaves recognized this ambiguity when explaining how and why they could achieve emancipation. Selectively using the laws of Castile, of the Indies, and of the revolutionary states, some slaves elaborated languages accepted in the judicial forum to tell that their servile personal status came from a relationship of power, rather than from a coherent doctrine. The presence of this legal creativity, as a strategy to achieve freedom, suggests that the judicial sphere was an arena for the politics of emancipation.

Keywords : slavery; emancipation; juridical uncertainty; legal creativity.

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