'EXCESSES THAT HORRIFY HUMANITY'. JUDICIAL COMPLAINT AGAINST THE CRUELTY OF A SLAVEOWNER IN SANTIAGO DE CHILE (1795–1796)
"EXCESOS QUE HORRORIZAN A LA HUMANIDAD". RECLAMO JUDICIAL POR LA SEVICIA Y CRUELDAD DE UN ESCLAVISTA EN SANTIAGO DE CHILE (1795-1796)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4067/s0717-73562026000100517
Tamara Alicia Araya Fuentes
Key Words: Slavery, humanity, body, pain, Santiago de Chile, eighteenth century.
Abstract
In this article, I analyze a criminal trial initiated by Anastacia Torres, who accused don Agustín Arguelles, the master of her daughter María de los Ángeles—an enslaved mulatta of just over 13 or 14 years of age—of acts of cruelty committed against her. This lawsuit took place in the city of Santiago, Chile, between 1795 and 1796, and through it I explore the arguments that emerged in relation to the mistreatment and cruelty that formed part of María de los Ángeles's experience of enslavement. This leads me to consider three interrelated aspects that served to support the complaint. First, the denunciation emphasized the extent of the pain inflicted and the bodily marks that evidenced such mistreatment. Second, it foregrounded the mother's suffering. These first two elements fed into the third and most significant argument: the inhumanity of the slave owner. This is because the use of the concept of pain is connected to that of humanity, a notion that was being redefined during the period and was understood not as an attribute of enslaved people, but rather as a failing of those who enslaved them.
