Born c.1650 in Cartago, Costa Rica, Cardoso's mother was an enslaved woman owned by Ana Pereira Cardoso.[1] At around twenty years old Cardoso was purchased for 300 pesos by Spanish colonisers Tomás Calvo and his wife, Eugenia de Abarca.[1][2] Their son, Miguel Calvo, began a sexual relationship with Cardoso, and over the following twenty years she had at least five children with him. Technically these children were owned by their grandmother, Eugenia.[1]
In 1687, Eugenia sold her grandson Francisco to his father Miguel; Miguel freed him the same day. Four years later, in 1691, Eugenia sold her grand-daughters Maria (born 1682) and Feliciana (born 1685) to their father, who, again, promptly freed them.[1] In colonial Costa Rica, children and women were more likely to be manumitted than adult men.[3]
Cardoso was 'freed' in 1689 by Eugenia, however she was obliged to remain in service until the older woman's death. This came in 1792. Two further children were born free in 1691 and 1694. In 1715, Miguel created his will, leaving Cardoso goods from his house up to the value of 200 pesos. It also recognised his children as heirs, and bequeathed other enslaved people to them.[1]