1874 Matanzas, Cuba Travel Pass (Salvoconducto) for a Free Man of Color Illustrating Colonial Racial Surveillance
On offer is a striking colonial-era Cuban salvoconducto, an official internal passport authorizing the movement of a free man of color during the turbulent decade of the Ten Years’ War.
Issued in Matanzas on June 6, 1874, the document is written on official blue papel sellado printed “SELLO 8.º AÑO DE 1874 – 2 PESETAS 50 CÉNTIMOS” and bears serial number No. 085.894. The handwritten header at upper left denotes the registry number and date of issue, boldly penned in brown ink beside the embossed seal of the Gobierno Político y Militar de Matanzas.
The certificate is signed by José Benítez y Cobos, Inspector de Vigilancia del Distrito del Sur de esta Ciudad, confirming that Francisco Hernández, a 25-year-old pardo (free man of color), “se halla en este puerto salvo de castigo” [is free of punishment] and is permitted to travel to Sagua la Grande. The left margin records a detailed physical description: “
"Edad 25 años; color pardo; pelo crespo; frente regular; ojos pardos; nariz ancha; boca regular; barba poca” [Age 25; brown complexion; curly hair; regular forehead; brown eyes; wide nose; regular mouth; sparse beard].
The text further notes that Hernández carries the approval of his Comandante General and a corresponding travel permit issued by Sub-Lieutenant Bustamante.
This manuscript illustrates colonial racial surveillance in late 19th-century Cuba, when free Afro-Cubans were still required to carry travel passes closely resembling the older slave papeletas de registro. Issued in the final years of the Ten Years’ War (1868–1878), it reflects the administrative continuity that would soon transform into the Patronato system (1880–1886), under which freed people remained bound to their former masters under the guise of “apprenticeship.”
The document remains fully legible and complete, written in brown ink on a single folio leaf (approx. 8½ × 12½ in.), with the embossed government seal, printed fiscal heading, and all signatures intact. Minor age toning and light handling wear; otherwise very good condition.
An exceptionally well-preserved salvoconducto representing the bureaucratic intersection of race, labor, and mobility in colonial Cuba during one of its most politically charged decades.
Overall G+. One page, 8½ × 12½ in., ink on official papel sellado (Sello 8.º Año de 1874). Toning, and bends present, and heavy text in the upper left corner slightly torn through. Appropriate to age. Spanish language. Translation completed by online software.
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