The Politics of Postponement : Slavery, Slave Trade, and Abolitionism in the Spanish Caribbean

This chapter challenges linear narratives of abolition in the Spanish Caribbean by arguing that the process is best understood through the lens of a ‘politics of postponement’. It explores the historical contradiction of the Spanish Empire, which pioneered transatlantic slavery in the Americas in the sixteenth century, yet presided over its most protracted and contested demise in the nineteenth century. This tension arose from the Spanish state’s dual role as both the legal architect of slavery and, eventually, the reluctant agent of its abolition. It contends that for centuries, Spanish colonial authorities and planter elites perfected a strategy of rhetorical concession and practical obstruction that absorbed and neutralized pressures for radical change. This framework connects the “laboratory of empire” thesis of the early colonial period with Dale Tomich’s concept of the “second slavery”, revealing a consistent logic of racialized exploitation and elite protectionism. While acknowledging the shared experience of a “common wind”, the analysis highlights the profoundly uneven nature of slavery across the Spanish Caribbean, from urban centers to rural plantations. It demonstrates how entrenched economic interests and deep-seated racial hierarchies consistently undermined the path to genuine freedom.