Publications

In the Blood of our Brothers : Abolitionism and the End of the Slave Trade in Spain's Atlantic Empire, 1800–1870

Sanjurjo Jesús

(2021)

Con la Sangre de Nuestros Hermanos : Historia del Abolicionismo y del Fin del Comercio de Esclavos en el Imperio Español, 1800-1870

Sanjurjo Jesús

(2023)

'An exemplary punishment' : state violence and political repression in the aftermath of Lorenzo's Revolution of 1836

Sanjurjo Jesús

Economic and Social History Seminar of the University of Glasgow (2024)

'An exemplary punishment' : state violence and political repression in the aftermath of Lorenzo's Revolution of 1836

Sanjurjo Jesús

Scottish Global History Network (2024)

An era of emancipation? : Enslaved miners, British capital, and revolution in Spain's Atlantic Empire

Sanjurjo Jesús

Irish and British Migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Long Nineteenth Century (2024)

Abolicionismo y el fin del comercio de personas esclavizadas en el Imperio atlántico español, 1800– 1870

Sanjurjo Jesús

El otro bicentenario (2024)

More publications

Teaching

From the miners’ riots of 1767 in San Luis Potosí and the Great African Slave Revolt of 1825 in Cuba, to Concepción Arenal's radical activism in Spain, I have always been passionate about exploring with my students the courageous struggles of those whose histories have too often been ignored in traditional narratives. Currently, I contribute to the following modules:

History Modules

- V1235: The British Empires: Conquest, Commerce, and Cooperation, 1556-2013  

- V1729: BA Hons. Dissertation  

Spanish Modules

- R4228: Counter-Currents in the Hispanic World (co-convener with Dr. Rhiannon McGlade)  

- R4498: BA Hons. Dissertation  

- Spanish 1A & 1B: 'Three Revolutions that Transformed Latin America' [Lectures]  

Doctoral and Postdoctoral Supervision

I welcome inquiries from motivated and qualified applicants worldwide who are working in the broad areas of:

• Slavery, the slave trade, race and resistance;
• Crime and punishment, carceral systems, and state violence in the Atlantic World;
• Spanish, Spanish imperial, and Latin American histories, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to the diplomatic, political, military, and social histories of the Atlantic World from around 1700 to 1900. 

Our research opportunities page provides information on projects and scholarships. Our research opportunities page allows you to search for projects and scholarships.

Research Interests

My first monograph, In the Blood of Our Brothers. Abolitionism and the End of the Slave Trade in Spain’s Atlantic Empire, 1800–1870 (University of Alabama Press, 2021) was a finalist for the Paul E. Lovejoy Prize. In December 2023, Editorial Comares published its Spanish edition.

Our New Research Project

I am currently co-leading the flagship project 'The Prison Blueprint: How Colonial Incarceration Forged Modern Racial Injustice', together with Dr Lloyd Belton (University of Glasgow). The project encompasses various initiatives to examine the historical origins of systemic racism and class discrimination in contemporary criminal justice systems by bringing together historians, computer scientists specialising in AI, criminologists, philosophers, and justice policy experts. The project is generously funded by the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme, the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, and Strathclyde’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Science.

Our team of historians, scientists, criminologists and legal experts is using Artificial Intelligence to analyse these handwritten records, uncovering patterns of discrimination that were buried in the past. By understanding how these problems began, we hope to inform today's conversations about prison reform and help create a fairer future. This vital work is led by researchers at the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow and is supported by various grants.

Professional Activities

Using AI to Track Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems

Organiser

18/6/2025

¿Estás orgulloso de la esclavitud? Reparaciones y nostalgias imperiales en la Europa del presente

Keynote speaker

27/2/2025

CONNECTS-UK 4th Open Forum: ‘Global Economics: History is Not the Past’

Invited speaker

5/6/2025

CONNECTS-UK 2nd European Researchers in the UK Event

Participant

31/3/2025

Universidad del Norte

Visiting researcher

20/2/2025

Interview for the podcast 'En Fase Experimental'

Recipient

21/1/2025

More professional activities

Projects

Black Soldiers of the Caribbean: Race, Slavery and Radical Politics

Sanjurjo-Ramos, Jesus (Principal Investigator)

This project re-examines the 1836 liberal uprising led by General Manuel Lorenzo in Santiago de Cuba, arguing it was a fundamental episode in the history of the revolutionary Atlantic. Moving beyond traditional historiography that frames the event as a mere military affair or elite conspiracy , this research contends that the uprising was a genuine, popular, urban, and deeply racialised revolution. Its initial success was propelled by a heterogeneous coalition that crucially included the active participation of free Black, pardo, and mulatto artisans and militiamen.

The project's central thesis is that the revolution's failure was catalysed by the white elite's profound racial anxiety—the "miedo al negro"—which was ignited by Lorenzo's decision to arm the multiracial militias. While drawing on a long imperial tradition of military service by men of colour as a path to corporate rights , this act was perceived by the planter class and colonial authorities not as the creation of a citizen-soldiery, but as a Jacobin threat to the slave-based social order.

The aftermath was not a simple restoration of authority but marked a pivotal 'repressive turn' in Spanish colonial governance. Through the microhistory of Candelario Villafaña, a free pardo artisan identified as a "principal agent" of the movement , this research analyses the sophisticated machinery of repression deployed by the state.

By centring the experiences of subaltern actors like Villafaña, this project demonstrates that Cuba served as an imperial laboratory for racialised repression and punitive techniques that would define the struggle for freedom in the 19th-century Caribbean. It connects the political history of Cuba to the global history of punishment, revealing how even within the brutal carceral system, prisoners resisted through petitioning, writing, and forming solidarity networks, thereby asserting their humanity and political voice.

01-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2025

The Prison Blueprint: How Colonial Incarceration Forged Modern Racial Injustice

Sanjurjo-Ramos, Jesus (Principal Investigator) Belton, Lloyd (CoPI) Moshfeghi, Yashar (Co-investigator) Izaguirre, Yaimara (Co-investigator) Weaver, Beth (Researcher) Thompson-Brown, Beverley (Co-investigator) Bardes, John (Researcher) Guyatt, Nicholas (Researcher) Naranjo, Consuelo (Researcher) Barcia, Manuel (Researcher) Bhopal, Aneel Singh (Fellow) Jardine, Cara (Researcher) Gyollai, Daniel (Researcher) Moss, Kellie (Researcher) Piacentini, Laura (Researcher) Basques, Messias (Researcher) Mantilla Morales, Valeria Sofia (Researcher) Sabala, Vanesa (Researcher) Sarmiento Ramirez, Ismael (Researcher) GONZALEZ ARANA, Roberto (Researcher)

This flagship project encompasses various initiatives to examine the historical origins of systemic racism and class discrimination in contemporary criminal justice systems by bringing together historians, computer scientists specialising in AI, criminologists, philosophers, and justice policy experts. Led by Dr Jesús Sanjurjo (University of Strathclyde) and Dr Lloyd Belton (University of Glasgow), our research is centred on the recent unearthing of a unique historical collection: Havana's Royal Prison Logbooks. Spanning a century (1837-1937), these extraordinary manuscripts from one of the Atlantic's largest colonial prisons contain detailed records of thousands of men, women, and children, both free and enslaved. By connecting this rich historical data with contemporary policy, we aim to directly inform current debates on prison reform and the enduring legacies of racial injustice. The initiative is supported by major grants from the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme, the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, and Strathclyde’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Science.

The project encompasses the following research initiatives:

1. 'Using AI for Tracking Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton, 1/02/25 → 31/07/25, funded by a University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, £2,000.00.

2. 'Havana’s Royal Prison Logbooks (1836-1898): Digitisation, Preservation and Dissemination', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton, 1/10/25 → Ongoing, funded by the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme (Pilot), £15,000.00, additional funding from the British Academy is TBC.

3. 'To contain the diffusion of pernicious ideas. The systematic imprisonment of Black sailors in Cuba and the United States, 1830-1850' ['Para contener la
difusión de ideas perniciosas: Encarcelamiento sistemático de marineros negros en Cuba y Estados Unidos, 1830-1850'], co-led by Dr Belton and Dr Sanjurjo, in partnership with Dr John Bardes, 1/05/25 → Ongoing, internally funded.

4. 'Using AI to Track Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton in partnership with Beverley Thompson-Brown OBE, 01/11/25 → Ongoing, funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Award, £14,769.96.

5. 'Historical Prison Systems in The Atlantic World and Their Impact on the Construction of Contemporary Penitentiary Models', I-LINK Programme of the CSIC and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Scheme, led by Prof Consuelo Naranjo. Project Dates TBC, Outcome of the Funding Application TBC.

01-Jan-2025

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