[Manuscript Court Records Documenting the Complaints of a Former Enslaved against his Employer, for Witholding Wages and Cédulas Libres].

The Patronato period (1880-1886) is named after the legal framework adopted in 1880 for the gradual abolition of slavery in Cuba. Under the patronato system, formerly enslaved people (patrocinados) were granted limited freedoms, but were legally compelled to work for their former masters for eight years at a set wage which was often withheld or paid in kind. 

Enslaved people in Spanish colonies already held a comparatively unusual legal status (e.g. vs. Britain and the US) that allowed them to make complaints against their masters. The patronato established special courts (juntas) to adjudicate compliance with the laws of abolition, and former enslaved people used them to sue their employers for freedom, report physical abuse, and recover withheld wages.  

This group includes the original court documents in the case of the patrocinado Hermenegildo Cárdenas against his employer Don Julian Gomez and the San Miguel sugar plantation. Cárdenas claims that his wages have been withheld for five months. The supporting documents report on the testimony of other witnesses, including former slaves, and the defense offered by the mill. The court eventually finds in favor of Cárdenas but further documents seem to indicate it took a number of months for the back wages to be paid, and that the mill was refusing to provide Cárdenas and another patrocinado, Ricardo, with cédulas libres. These forms of identification were newly available to people of color and represented a definitive exit from forced labor to full Spanish legal subjects.

Comprised of 12 leaves in two groups: 1) 14 pp.; 10 leaves, each approx. 30.5 x 21 cm and 2) 8pp.; 2 bifold leaves, each approx. 21.5 x 16 cm, folded. Multiple stamps of the Junta Provincial de Patronato, Matanzas and the Alcadia de Matanzas throughout. Four leaves darkened, a bit of dampstain and wormhole damage not affecting legibility, edgewear with a couple of chips. Pinholes indicate documents may have been stapled?