Abstract
This paper discusses the relation between literacy and the social status of free mulattos in Portuguese America and the Spanish Caribbean throughout the second half of 18th century and the early 19th century. Due to the stain of slavery, mulattos occupied a subordinate place in society, being subjugated to exclusionary laws and stigmas. This paper seeks to understand how literacy qualified the mulattos to exercise more valued social functions, such as clerk and notary occupations. Besides material effects, literacy influenced social status by endowing the mulattos with greater capacity to circumvent the prejudices and restrictions imposed on them and to enter colonial power relations.
Keywords:
Free Mulattos; Ibero-American Slave Societies; Literacy; Social Status