Mulatto Marriages, Partnerships, and Intimate Connections

Racial identity based in gender and class hierarchy influenced how mixed-heritage people entered into intimate partnerships and the fifth chapter largely explores the many ways in which Mulatto women voluntarily chose, were coerced, or forced into marriage, partnerships, and other intimate connections. The choices of mixed-heritage women in the colonial period were limited and many used the tools they had to seek liberty or greater everyday freedoms for themselves and for their children, often times through European men. This chapter explores the Mulatto escape hatch or the idea whereby multigenerational mixture or successive generations of intermixture with Europeans allowed people of mixed ancestry to move into whiteness. Mixed-heritage women with some European ancestry knew that partnering with European men would increase the likelihood that their children would have lighter skin and therefor increase opportunities for social advancement. Mulatto men were less likely to partner with European women, and most often married and entered into relationships with other women of color. Some of these relationships are also discussed in the colony of Georgia.