“Los pobres encarcelados” Practices and representations of the inmates of the Buenos Aires prison in the late colonial period

Abstract

This article examines a strategy that in the late colonial period prison inmates of Buenos Aires deployed towards alleviating their miseries. We refer to the submission of respectful requests addressed to the highest political authorities. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, we will focus our attention on the social profile of the prisoners who used this way, and on the shortcomings that requests revealed. We will also analyze the networks mobilized and the arguments stated by these prisoners. We conclude that these rhetorical resources demonstrate key aspects of the legal culture of the time, and show as well the ideology that supported the legitimacy of political authority