Race, Sex, and Social Order in Early New Orleans

Glossary

g l o s s a r y Terms used to describe an individual’s calidad french spanish english affranchi manumitted or freed blanc/blanche blanco/-a white bozal African-born slave, recently arrived concessionaire owner of a concession engagé indentured servant esclave esclavo/-a slave gens de couleur libre gente de color libre free people of color griffe grifo/-a griff (in New Orleans, commonly used for the child of a negro/-a and mulata/-o and occasionally for Afro-Indians) habitant member of the permanent, settled population of the colony (as opposed to soldiers, coureurs de bois, etc.) homme/femme de couleur libre free man/woman of color (often abbreviated f.m.c./f.w.c.) libre libre free person métis mestizo/-a Afro-Indian or Euro-Indian moreno/-a dark-skinned person of African descent mulâtre/sse mulato/-a mulatto mulatico/-a young mulatto née libre born free nègre/négresse; noir negro/-a negro, black 312 Glossary french spanish english pardo/-a light-skinned person of African descent régnicole natural inhabitant of a state (used to distinguish French citizens from foreigners) quarteron/né cuarterón/a quadroon sang-mêlé mixed blood sauvage/sse indio/-a, salvaje Indian sieur don/doña title of respect vecino/-a resident, citizen of a town French autres personnes libres other free persons commandeur overseer commissaire ordonnateur fiscal officer, second in command after the governor concession large land grant, plantation coureurs des bois fur traders dit(e) known as, nicknamed épouseuse a woman sent to the colonies to be married habitation small land grant petites nations small Indian nations personnes nées libre persons born free pièce d’Inde prime slave procureur général attorney general veuve widow voyageur French trader Spanish alcalde judge and member of the cabildo bando decree, edict cabildo town council calidad quality Glossary 313 carta de libertad act or certificate of manumission (“carta” for short) casta lineage, race cédula decree coartación self-purchase compadrazgo godparentage escribano court scribe, notary graciosa/graciosamente (manumitted) freely, without conditions letrado legal adviser libro de blancos, negros, etc. sacramental registries for whites, negros, etc. limpieza de sangre purity of blood madrina godmother padrino godfather regidor officer of the cabildo viuda widow Units of Money and Measurement arpent French measure of both length (between 180 and 190 feet) and area (0.84 acres) league French measure of length (between 21⁄2 and 23 ⁄4 miles) peso basic Spanish monetary unit, equivalent to 1 dollar livre basic French monetary unit during the eighteenth century (replaced by the franc in 1795); its value fluctuated greatly during the early eighteenth-century piastre French name for Spanish coin; usually worth about 5 to 8 livres; by the beginning of the nineteenth century it was interchangeable with “peso” and “dollar” real Spanish coin equivalent to 8 pesos sol French coin equivalent to 1 livre This page intentionally left blank ...