Creating an Alternative Kinship: Slavery, Freedom, and Nineteenth-Century Afro-Cuban Hijos Naturales

Abstract

This article contributes to the histories of slavery and of African-descended families in the Americas by examining the recognition of nineteenth-century Afro-Cuban hijos naturales (or children born outside of wedlock) as a means of family formation in late colonial Cuba. With legal recognition, men from a variety of races and classes claimed responsibility for these children. In doing so, they created a creole family form that developed to suit a very local context and that did not conform to Anglo-American standards of legitimacy or illegitimacy. This article first outlines general Afro-Cuban reproductive patterns and then reveals the social experiences of the families that include hijos naturales. Such families were valuable social agents that sought the advancement of their members and that often provided a framework through which individuals endured slavery and advanced into freedom.