The Burning of the WitchesThroughout world history, one can easily find times when black people were exploited and taken advantage of, regardless of the context or period. Whether it's the Atlantic slave trade, post-slavery prisoner leasing, the execution of the Black Panther Party, or even more common, acts of police brutality. There is a specific period that is little recognized, that I would like to focus on. The witchcraft trials of the early 1600s in what is now Cartagena, Colombia, and the way Afro-Latinos and slaves were accused of witchcraft contributed to a much more ambitious and horrific agenda. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay To begin my analyses, I chose a document titled “Accusations of the Prosecutor of the Holy Office: July 11, 1624” which was made on July 11, 1624. The document contains the accusations of a prosecutor during a court hearing as well as the responses to the accusations. The person being pursued by the Holy Inquisition of Cartagena is Paula de Eguiluz, a black woman enslaved in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, where she was accused of witchcraft. Anyone looking for this material can find it in Afro-Latino Voices, a book compiled with materials containing previously untold or untold stories of Afro-Latinos and their perspectives on life in Latin America as black people. At this time, in the 1620s, many black women, both free and enslaved, were accused of witchcraft and "evil magic." However, many have not considered the African origins and how the traditions may have been passed down, which they might perceive as witchcraft. The source is a formal document containing the twelve accusations made by witnesses, which led to him being accused of witchcraft. She was taken to “secret prisons” while awaiting sentencing. Afro-Latino Voices states that she was a woman who enjoyed more freedom than other slaves, where she was well dressed and frequently visited her friends who allegedly taught her spells to seduce and attract potential lovers. Slavery was controversial during this time and was widespread, where black people were seen as anything but human, in this case as a witch. Before focusing on Eguiluz and his case, it is important to understand what colonial Latin America was like in the early 1600s. According to the website of the Colombian Embassy in Washington D.C., during this time the Spanish began to settle down, establishing a large number of towns and Christianity as the main religion. Linda A. Newson states in her book, From Capture to Sale: The Portuguese Slave Trade to Spanish South America in the Early 17th Century, that, being the largest slave port in Spanish America, approximately 10,000 to 20,000 slaves resided in Cartagena (Newson, 139). Other forms of trade were also important, with odd trades like turtles and manatees, then more everyday goods like plantains and chickens (170). Newson points out that a lot of time and money was spent protecting this lucrative port from English, French and Dutch pirates. Due to these frequent raids, there was a huge military presence in Cartagena. Howard Kramer offers many insights into Cartagena and its connections to religion on his website, The Complete Pilgrim, where he catalogs and documents his travels to different countries with numerous historical accounts. , religious sites. While Kramer neglectsthe importance of Cartagena during the era of slavery, he mentions Fort San Felipe De Barajas and Fort San Sebastián De Pastelillo, large colonial fortresses created "to protest the plundering of the vast riches of Peru's interior Inca lands and Ecuador. » He notes that “the fortifications of Cartagena are among the greatest architectural legacies left by the Spanish Empire in South America”. There is a limited amount of information on Paula de Eguiluz, but a website called Biografias offers what appears to be a biased but decent amount of information on Eguiluz. The website stated that she was the head of the largest witchcraft group in Cartagena de Indias at the time and that "she was accused by the Inquisition of performing spells, digging up the dead from the cemetery and the bodies of the dead with other witches ate. . » Atlas Obscura is a collaborative website that focuses on identifying obscure and interesting places around the world. While being a resource for travelers, it is alluring to look into a traveler's eyes to see their view of the Palace of the Inquisition. The website notably mentions the history of the Palacio de la Inquisición, where more than 800 trials took place and "no person was ever declared innocent." What is also interesting is that there was "a poster on the wall of the museum listing the questions the accused faced, including: 'What harm have you caused and to whom?' » ; “What words do you say when you fly?” » ; and “Why does the devil beat you at night?” Usually anything related to slave history is glossed over or thrown under the rug, so it's interesting to see a travel website acknowledge this. From an excerpt from The Secret History of Witches by Max Dashu, featured in Suppressed Histories On some websites it is stated that "the Inquisition used accusations of witchcraft and devil worship to imprison Afro-Caribbeans , including black people enslaved in the mines of Zaragoza in Antioquía, Colombia. Even before the first burning in Cartagena, a black man named Juan Lorenzo was tried for “sorcerer”; he ended his torture by hanging himself in his cell, or so it was claimed. “Auto da fe” can be defined as the burning of a heretic by the Spanish Inquisition. It is crucial to recognize that this was a way of persecuting Afro-Latinos and Africans, to situate the act of witchcraft, which revolts against the established religion of Christianity. The dehumanization of this group of people took place through these accusations as well as all the executions. Many were condemned to the stake. Dashu states that Paula de Eguiluz was able to avoid this horrible form of punishment thanks to her "great [skills] in medicine and healing." Instead, she received 200 lashes. Others were not so lucky, where "in 1632, more women were tortured, and twenty-one of them were whipped and exposed to the public in a 1634 book burning." Dashu talks about a woman named Ana de Avila who was able to avoid being whipped, but she was tortured to the extreme and fined. Another woman, Ana Beltran, was also tortured, but to death, where a sentence of absolution against her was still read at the public ceremony of her initial punishment. These people accused of this evil magic have faced a lot of brutality and one can see how bad the brutality has become. Sara Vicuna Guengerich, who contributes to Afro-Latino Voices with her article "The Witchcraft Trials of Paula de Eguiluz, a Black Woman, in Cartagena de Indias, 1620-1636" explains in detail how Eguiluz's case was handled by.?”