Female slavery in the Gaceta de Puerto Rico, 1836-45

This article focuses on female slaves in Puerto Rico during the first half of the nineteenth century. Most of the historical data comes from the Gaceta de Puerto Rico, the official newspaper at the time, which published 111 announcements or other references related to female slaves. The information obtained has been analysed qualitatively and quantitatively to conclude that female slaves were an essential part of the society of the time, working in the fields as well as in the homes as washerwomen, cooks, ironers, or wet nurses. In fact, according to the 1841 census, 47% of the slave population were female, and there were more mulatto and black free women than men from their same group. Likewise, we have verified that some enslaved women had traditional tattoos from their villages of origin, that others were able to create families, and that some, unfortunately, were murdered. In short, this article aims to recover the life experiences of Puerto Rico's enslaved women, an extremely vulnerable group that deserves to be remembered and whose memory we should preserve.