Editing Manumission (section)

==Peru==
In colonial Peru, the laws around manumission were influenced by the ''[[Siete Partidas]]'', a Castilian law code. According to the ''Siete Partidas'', masters who manumitted their slaves should be honored and obeyed by their former slaves for giving such a generous gift.<ref>McKinley, Michelle A. (2016) ''Fractional Freedoms: Slavery, Intimacy, and Legal Mobilization in Colonial Lima, 1600–1700''. New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 165. {{ISBN|978-1107168985}}</ref> As in other parts of Latin America under the system of ''coartación'', slaves could purchase their freedom by negotiating with their master for a purchase price and this was the most common way for slaves to be freed.<ref name="McKinley, p. 177">McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 177.</ref> Manumission also occurred during baptism, or as part of an owner's last will and testament.

In baptismal manumission, enslaved children were freed at baptism. Many of these freedoms came with stipulations which could include servitude often until the end of an owner's life.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 152</ref> Children freed at baptism were also frequently the children of still-enslaved parents. A child who was freed at baptism but continued to live with enslaved family was far more likely to be re-enslaved.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 145</ref> Baptismal manumission could be used as evidence of a person's freed status in a legal case but they did not always have enough information to serve as a ''carta de libertad''.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 153.</ref>

Female slave owners were more likely than males to manumit their slaves at baptism.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 155.</ref> The language used by women slave owners who freed their slaves also differed substantially from that of men, with many women using the phrasing “for the love I have for her” as well as other expressions of intimacy as part of the reasoning for freeing their slaves as written on the baptismal record or ''carta de libertad''.<ref name="McKinley, p. 152">McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 152.</ref> Male slave owners were far less likely to speak in intimate terms about their reasoning for freeing their slaves.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 161.</ref>

Many children manumitted at baptism were likely the illegitimate children of their male owners, though this can be difficult to determine from the baptismal record and must be assessed through other evidence.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 162.</ref> Although slave owners often characterized these baptismal manumissions as a result of their generous beneficence, there are records of payments by parents or godparents to ensure the child's freedom.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 165.</ref> Mothers were almost never manumitted alongside their children, even when the mothers gave birth to their master's own children. Manumitting a slave's children at baptism could be one way for owners to ensure the loyalty of the children's still-enslaved parents.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 167.</ref>

Enslaved people could also be freed as part of a slave owner's last will and testament. Testamentary manumission frequently involved expressions of affection on the part of the slave owner to the enslaved person as part of the rationale behind manumission.<ref name="McKinley, p. 177" /> Slave owners also frequently cited a desire to die with a clear conscience as part of their reasoning for freeing their slaves.<ref name="McKinley, p. 177" /> Testamentary manumission could often be disputed by heirs claiming fraud, or that an enslaved person had preyed upon a relative's weak mental or physical condition.<ref name="McKinley, p. 180">McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 180.</ref> Legally testamentary manumissions were usually respected by the courts, who understood enslaved people as part of their owner's property to distribute as they wished.<ref>McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 181.</ref> Relatives who claimed fraud had to provide evidence of their claims or they would be dismissed.<ref name="McKinley, p. 180" /> As in baptismal manumission, conditions of ongoing servitude were sometimes placed upon the enslaved person, by obligating them to care for another relative.<ref name="McKinley, p. 152" />

In Iberoamerican law, a person had discretion over one-fifth of their estate<ref name="McKinley, p. 182">McKinley, ''Fractional Freedoms'', p. 182.</ref> with the rest going to children, spouses, and other relatives.  An enslaved person could be sold in order to cover debts of the estate, but not if they had already paid part of their purchase price towards manumission as this was considered a legally binding agreement.<ref name="McKinley, p. 180" /> As long as a person had not disinherited his children or spouse, a slave owner could manumit their slaves as they wished.<ref name="McKinley, p. 182" />