Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Humanities and Cultural Studies

Major Professor

J. Michael Francis, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Zaib Aziz, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Frances Ramos, Ph.D.

Keywords

colonial law, enslavement, race, Spanish empire, St. Augustine

Abstract

"Hidden in Plain Sight: Chinos, Casta, and La Florida" looks at the origin and use of the term chino/a within the Spanish casta system, focusing on its role in the St. Augustine Parish Archives from 1693 to 1754. In the St. Augustine parish registers, there were thirty-two separate entries that consisted of chinos/as. The presence of multiple individuals identified as chinos in Spanish Florida highlights the diversity of colonial Spain and demonstrates crucial understandings of the legal effects of casta. A careful analysis of these individuals reveals that the term chino/a did not necessarily refer to people of Asian origin but also may have been used to refer to people of African, Indigenous American, or mixed heritage and origin. The broad application of this term was due to the fluid nature of the casta system as well as the preference of the scribes and officiants in St. Augustine. Furthermore, there was a potential incentive to categorize runaway Indigenous Americans and enslaved Africans as chinos. This demonstrates that not only could a person alter their own casta to avoid enslavement, but even colonial officials may have changed a person’s casta to obscure a previous status of enslavement, particularly in the case of chinos in St. Augustine.

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