Moret Law

The Moret Law was a form of freedom of wombs, which was implemented by Spain in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and named after Segismundo Moret who was Spain's Minister of Overseas Territories at the time. This law implemented the abolition of slavery incrementally in Spain's Caribbean colonies.^[1] It drew from older Later American manumission traditions such as the way favorite slaves have been previously liberated under certain conditions.^[2]

History

Latin America was one of the last holdouts of slavery in the Americas but after the United States Civil War in 1865, international pressure forced Spain to end slavery.^[1] Slavery was never formally abolished in Spain itself, but had gradually declined into insignificance there by the early-mid nineteenth century.^[3] The Moret Law was approved in Spain on July 4, 1870 for application in Cuba and later Puerto Rico, with other colonies following. This development was mainly attributed to the efforts of Moret, Roman Baldorioty de Castro, Luis Padial, and Julio Vizcarrondo. Spain also passed the law with the desire to preempt the independence movement in the colonies.^[4]

The law granted freedom to children born to enslaved mothers after September 18, 1868, a date chosen to honor of the liberal revolution that swept Spain in 1869.^[4] The Moret Law was made to not only grant a free womb for enslaved women, but it was also made to ensure that children were not separated from their mothers if they were under 14 years old. The women use the Moret Law for their benefits and to help influence other enslaved women in the neighborhoods where they reside.^[5] It also freed slaves who served in the Spanish army (particularly those who fought in the Ten Years' War in Cuba), slaves over 60 years old (along with slaves who turned 60 thereafter), and slaves who were owned by the Spanish government. The Spanish government compensated slave owners 125 pesetas for each slave emancipated under the Moret Law. Slavery was abolished for Puerto Rico (but not for Cuba) in 1873 and finally, without exceptions, in 1886.^[6]

References

1. Wright, Thomas (2017). Latin America since Independence: Two Centuries of Continuity and Change. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 108. ISBN 9781442235724.
2. Cullen-Sizer, Lyde; Cullen, Jim (2008). The Civil War Era: An Anthology of Sources. Blackwell Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 9780470759110.
3. Herzog, Tamar (September 4, 2012). "How Did Early-Modern Slaves in Spain Disappear? The Antecedents". Republics of Letters. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
4. Gleeson, David T.; Lewis, Simon (2014). The Civil War as Global Conflict: Transnational Meanings of the American Civil War. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781611173260.
5. Cowling, Camillia (2011). "'As a slave woman and as a mother': women and the abolition of slavery in Havana and Rio de Janeiro* Camillia Cowling To cite this article: Camillia Cowling (2011) 'As a slave woman and as a mother': women and the abolition of slavery in Havana and Rio de Janeiro*, Social History, 36:3, 294-311, DOI: 10.1080/03071022.2011.598728 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03071022.2011.598728 Published online: 04 Oct 2011. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 9170 View related articles". Social History. 36 (3): 294–311. doi:10.1080/03071022.2011.598728. {{cite journal}}: External link in |title= (help)
6. Corwin, Arthur F. (2014). Spain and the Abolition of Slavery in Cuba, 1817–1886. University of Texas Press. pp. 255–259. ISBN 9781477301333.

External links

• Text of the Moret Law (in Spanish) from the Internet Archive