Reflections on the Domestic Work of an Enslaved Child in Santiago de Guatemala, 1674

Abstract

This article analyzes the working and family conditions experienced by some children of African origin in Hispanic America. It assesses the work and suicide of Diego, an enslaved boy from the city of Santiago de Guatemala in the second half of the seventeenth century. Drawing on Diego’s case, the goal of the paper is to raise various issues related to daily life and mistreatment experienced by some enslaved children in their homes and workplaces. On the one hand, it explores the family and work structure of children subject to servitude. On the other, it addresses the issue of coexistence and vulnerability relationships of these enslaved children with their master, co-workers and adults with whom they lived.