1789-Apr.-27: The Spanish Junta Suprema de Estado reviewed a report by Eugenio Llaguno concerning the proposed reform of slave laws in the Americas.

1789-Apr.-27: The Spanish Junta Suprema de Estado reviewed a report by Eugenio Llaguno concerning the proposed reform of slave laws in the Americas. This meeting was part of the internal process that led to the issuance of the Código Negro or the cédula of May 1789. The Spanish ministers sought to balance the humanitarian concerns of the Enlightenment with the economic necessity of expanding the plantation system in Cuba and Caracas. They hoped that a more standardized and “paternalistic” legal framework would prevent the kind of unrest seen in other empires. However, the resulting decree would ultimately fuel the very resistance it sought to manage.