Abstract

SOLANO D, Sergio Paolo. Pedro Romero, the Artisan: Work, Race and Social Differentiation in Cartagena de Indias towards the End of Colonial Rule. hist.crit. [online]. 2016, n.61, pp.151-170. ISSN 0121-1617.  https://doi.org/10.7440/histcrit61.2016.08.

This article studies the questions of work, race and social differentiation among the artisan class of the New Kingdom of Granada towards the end of the colonial period, through the labor activities of Pedro Romero, an emblematic artisan of Cartagena de Indias. It analyzes the privileges this artisan achieved through a contrato de asentista with the Naval Station and the income he earned a a result, while at the same time comparing them with those obtained by other workers, in order to show the process of social differentiation that operated among certain sectors of the artisan class. Based on his relations with colonial institutions (defense systems), it concludes that Romero strengthened his condition of class determined by his standard of living, and thus differentiated himself from his fellow artisans, which also allowed him to offset the influence of his racial condition. The article also concludes that during the second half of the 18th century, the relations between artisans and colonial institutions were transformed, due to the needs of military defense.

Keywords : Cartagena; artisan class; social differentiation; privilege; salaries; 18th century.

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