1768-May-09: Spanish ministers in Madrid reviewed an “expediente” concerning the exchange of enslaved people who had escaped between the Spanish territories…

1768-May-09: Spanish ministers in Madrid reviewed an “expediente” concerning the exchange of enslaved people who had escaped between the Spanish territories and the Danish West Indies. The document examined the feasibility of establishing reciprocal restitution agreements to prevent enslaved people from using neighboring islands as permanent refuges. These negotiations were driven by the mutual desire of colonial administrations to protect the stability of the plantation system. However, the geographic proximity of islands under different colonial jurisdictions made total control nearly impossible. Such documents reveal the high level of official concern regarding the mobility of the unfree population.