Aims and objectives
The objective of this project is to digitise 1,498 bills of sale and purchase of enslaved persons recorded in Popayán, a Governorate in Nueva Granada (within what is now Colombia). This is documentation produced between 1700 and 1750. Several are accompanied by a partially printed document certifying the legality of the transaction and bearing what appears to be a royal or company seal. The material provides qualitative information about the lives of enslaved persons and includes language that refers to places of origin in Africa. These bills of sale provide an unusual level of detail for mapping and understanding African enslavement in Colombia. They include information about the people involved, including demographic language indicating possible ethnicities for enslaved persons. They are therefore of primary importance for historical research on the colonial era.
The documentation belongs to the Notaries Fond of the José María Arboleda Llorente Historical Research Center at the University of Cauca. It is located in a colonial-era building (1780) which has no system for controlling either temperature or humidity. Currently, the building’s levels of relative humidity are between 70% and 85%, favoring the proliferation of microorganisms. An additional problem is posed by the presence of pigeons. The Center has some dehumidifiers, but they are insufficient. Deterioration is visible on some documents.
