Myths of Harmony: Race and Republicanism during the Age of Revolution, Colombia 1795–1831 (review)

During the Age of Revolution, were blacks inspired revolutionaries? Were they cynical opportunists? Were they dupes, merely used by whites as cannon fodder? The degree to which non-white subalterns were active and informed participants remains a prominent question for our understanding of the revolutionary era. Since the non-elites left us very few written sources of their views, we generally must rely on documents penned by elites, many of whom were hostile to the interests of non-elite agitators. Myths of Harmony makes a compelling case that New Granadan non-whites were motivated and informed political actors, but that whites (who authored most of our sources) frequently delegitimized these efforts by describing them as irrational and chaotic rather than strategic and republican. This monograph regrettably lacks a map, but otherwise it provides a highly readable, engaging, and convincing addition to our understanding of this critically important period.

The book focuses principally on relations between pardos (free people of African descent) and whites in the region of Cartagena, Colombia, though the narrative at times ranges to Spain and Venezuela. Marixa Lasso begins her story with the late Bourbon policies that sought to allow greater social mobility for non-whites, and the angry resistance mounted by white creoles. Successive chapters then examine pardo political participation and race relations through the independence wars and the first decade after independence. The sources used range from congressional debates (at Cádiz, Angostura, Cúcuta, and Ocaña), poems, pamphlets, official pronouncements, correspondence, and, most importantly, numerous court cases. The author provides multiple levels of interpretation to her ample body of evidence and in so doing adroitly portrays the complexity of rapidly evolving race relations.

To a large degree, the book explores the affect that the myth of harmony had on political discourse. This myth was the republican contrivance that, after throwing off the racist oppression of Spanish tyranny, New Granadan society now fully embraced racial equality. The myth brought benefits but also severely limited options for political leaders. Elites officially had to promote racial equality or risk appearing to be anti-republican and subversive. At the same time, any pardo that complained of racial discrimination could also face charges of being anti-republican and subversive because, since discrimination no longer existed, he was clearly lying and fomenting discord. The myth, therefore, stymied meaningful discussion on race relations. Along these lines, this investigation makes a very helpful contribution to our understanding of fears of race war. Pardos struggled to fulfill their dream of republican equality using mostly peaceful means but occasionally resorted to violence or the threat of violence. At the same time, elites in New Granada and elsewhere exploited fears of a Haitian-like uprising to justify suppression of race- or class-based political movements. Using the myth of racial harmony, elites accused pardo movements of rebelling against a republic that had already achieved racial equality, and therefore delegitimized their cause as a race war designed to promote chaos. The sources do not enable us to assess the degree to which pronouncements about race war were based in reality and how much they stemmed from cynical opportunism or racism. Instead, Lasso explores racial fears to show that the threat of race war was both real and nebulous, and that it became an intrinsic part of political discourse and social relations. Both whites and pardos used the threat to their advantage—to silence rivals or to gather allies—during moments when questions surrounding social relations and political equality became most acute (such as during a constitutional convention). Lasso’s analysis here is solid, though it could be improved by showing the connections to wider trends in Latin American discourse; it was quite common for post-independence politicians to stigmatize factions and delegitimize political opponents by accusing them of anti-republicanism and sedition.

In brief, Lasso’s study is a pleasure...