De “un rey nuevo en Santa Fe” y otros “cismas”. Negros, mulatos y zambos en la Rebelión de los Comuneros (1781)

Between March and November of 1781, the Viceroyalty of New Granada experienced one of the largest insurrections in Spanish America. Close to 20,000 men and women formed a movement, later known as the Revolt of the Comuneros, demanding that the reforms imposed by Charles III’s inspector general be revoked and threatening to march on the capital. Despite the numerous archival references to the intervention of negroes, mulattos, and zambos in this movement, their role has not been analyzed. The article identifies the references to uprisings involving enslaved and free subjects of African origin, which occurred mainly in the Upper Magdalena provinces, and analyzes their contexts, motivations, and goals. On the basis of this analysis, it is possible to conclude that “negridad” —that is, the experiences and discourses revolving around black people, which, during the Colonial period, were expressed mainly in the context of slavery and ideas regarding purity of blood and lineages— constituted a central factor in the expansion and consolidation of the Comunero movement. © 2020 Universidad Nacional de Colombia. All rights reserved.