Origins and distribution Most slaves began to be imported around the 1540s, following a royal decree officially freeing the indigenous peoples in 1548. Slaves came from the city of
Santiago, in
Guatemala, and were then distributed throughout
Central America. Thus, many of the African people who worked in rural Salvadoran areas came from
West Africa and usually, as in Guatemala's case, from
Senegambia.
Forced migrations by 1685. African enslaved people arrived in the country by forced migration. The first enslaved person arrived in El Salvador to work in the
haciendas, in cocoa and indigo mills, and in the gold mines. In
San Salvador and
San Miguel, many people enslaved African people, some of whom were sent to wash gold in Honduran rivers, which was a major industry in the sixteenth century. In 1545, there was a noted sum of about 1,500 African enslaved people seeking auriferous sands in
Honduras. The intense richness of
cocoa from
Izalco made this one of the first regions to have significant numbers of African enslaved people due to the high demand for free labor. Thus arose several enclaves of African enslaved people in places such as the shores of
Lake Coatepeque and in the town of La Trinidad in Sonsonate, on the banks of the river Cenzúnat. The people who were enslaved and served as foremen on the plantations were usually highly trusted by the people who enslaved them and were meant to intimidate the indigenous populations into submission. In the province of San Salvador, two thousand African peoples rose between November and December 1624, reaching militant troops from
Comayagua (
Honduras), to address the danger to the province. It was a contingent of indigenous and
Ladino soldiers from Zacatecoluca and
Apastepeque who captured the slaves, who were found in the banks of the
Lempa River, in El Marquesado and the hill of the same name, as well as downstream near the mouth. All captured slaves were executed in San Salvador in 1625. In 1611, when the slave mulattoes helped defeat the Maroons of Tutale, Guatemala and El Salvador did not allow people of African descent to officially participate in militia companies. However, Africans and their descendants, even enslaved, had still fought with Spanish forces from time to time since the Conquest. Nevertheless, in the 1630s, a wave of attacks against Central America by enemy
privateers and
pirates persuaded the
Audiencia to enlist free people of African descent in regular militia companies, although segregated. In 1673 there were six
Pardo companies in Guatemala and two in El Salvador. Soon there were Afro-militias in places like the
Department of Sonsonate and
Chiquimula,
Guatemala. After early struggles against the corsairs, the militias requested an exemption from Laborío Tribute, threatening not to serve otherwise. Because of that, several militia companies were temporarily exempted from this tax during the 1690s. The militants claimed this success and soon other requested Exemptions were granted. Then, the rest of the Afro-descendants also expected to be relieved of Laborío tribute, and prepared to face the authorities on the subject, rebelling against them. The most prominent example occurred in 1720 in San Salvador, where there had been a slave rebellion less than a century before. When the rumor that officials were preparing a new census for the Laborío Tribute Collection spread throughout the mulatto neighborhoods, at least 200 people took to the streets, threatening to burn the residence of the mayor. The rioters were persuaded to return home only after they were shown the list, barely containing 40 names. Spanish officials, who did not dare to continue the account, estimated that the actual number of residents in the city who were eligible for inclusion in the census was about 1,000.
Abolition of slavery and beyond During the
Intendencia, when few African people remained enslaved, there were regulations for slave owners, by order of the Crown to the
Audiencia Real. For example, the regulations were enacted in San Miguel in September 1804. The
cabildo of St. Vincent of Austria and La Trinidad, in Sonsonate, also enacted it. In the late nineteenth century, the Catholic Church began to classify the population. In 1933,
General Hernández Martinez, concerned about the events in Europe and following the example of
Adolf Hitler, wrote a law called the Immigration Limitations, prohibiting the entry of Africans, Asians, Arabs, Romani people, and many others into the country. He did urge, however, the immigration of north-central Europeans to whiten the population. These events further strengthened the Salvadoran denial of African roots and the Afro-descendants legally disappeared. However, that law was abolished by the new laws of 1959 and 1986. ==Cultural influence==