The Cedula of Population, a 1783 edict…

The Cedula of Population, a 1783 edict signed on November 24 by the representative of the King of Spain, José de Gálvez, opens Trinidad to immigration from, primarily, the French Caribbean islands.

Negotiated by Phillipe Rose Roume de Saint-Laurant, a key figure in Trinidad's colonial history, the edict consists of twenty-eight articles governing several forms of land grants to encourage population growth, naturalization of inhabitants, taxation, armament of slave owners, the duty and function of a militia to protect the island, and merchant and trade issues.

The edict invites persons of either gender and of the Roman Catholic faith to Trinidad who will swear loyalty to the Spanish Crown to receive land allotments in sizes depending on their race and heritage.

Specifically, it grants thirty-two English acres (one hundred and thirty thousand square meters) of land to each Roman Catholic who settles in Trinidad and half as much for each slave that they bring.

Sixteen acres (sixty-five thousand square meters) is offered to each free person of color, or gens de couleur libre, as they will later be known, and half as much for each slave they place on Trinidad.