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The Decline of Slavery in Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Dennis N. Valdés
Dennis N. Valdés*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Extract

The history of African slave societies in the New World can be divided into three distinct phases—formation, maturity and decline. The third, the demise of the slave order, will be the focus of attention in the present discussion. There appear to be three general patterns to the decline of slave societies in the Americas. The first, exemplified by the United States and Haiti, came quickly, but at a time when the slave order was deeply entrenched, engendering profound resistance accompanied by a civil war. In the second, demonstrated by Cuba and Brazil, it occurred over the course of a few decades, involving a more varied combination of international pressure, slave resistance and a transformation of the labor regime utilizing both recently freed slaves and imported foreign workers. Of the third prototype, in which Mexico and Colombia represent cases in point, it was a seemingly undramatic, very slow process encompassing several generations, during which slavery appeared to wither away. This essay will examine the fate of slavery in Mexico, a topic which has been mentioned in various works, but has not been examined in detail. It is important not only for comparative purposes, but also for understanding the social history of late-colonial Mexico.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , October 1987 , pp. 167 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1987

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References

1 See, e.g., Heroles, Jesus Reyes, El Liberalismo Mexicano (3 vols., Mexico, 1957–1961), 1, 28–29 Google Scholar; Acuna, Rodolfo, Occupied America (San Francisco, 1972), 12 Google Scholar; Morris, Richard B., “The American Revolution and the Mexican War for Independence; Parallels and Divergences,” in El Colegio de Mexico and American Historical Association, eds, Dos Revoluciones: Mexico y los Estados Unidos (Mexico, 1976), 27.Google Scholar

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23 See, e.g., Naveda Chávez-Hita, 1 lTrabajadoes esclavos,” 5; Aimes, Hubert H.S., A History of Slavery in Cuba 1511–1868 (New York and London, 1907), 267 Google Scholar; Rout, Leslie B., The African Experience in Spanish America (London, New York and Melbourne, 1976); 72, 324, 325Google Scholar; Beltran, Gonzalo Aguirre, La población negra de Mexico (Mexico, 1972), 30 Google Scholar; Fraginals, Manuel Moreno, Klein, Herbert S. and Engerman, Stanley L., “The Level and Structure of Prices on Cuban Slave Plantations in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: some Comparative Perspectives,” American Historical Review 88 (Dec. 1983), 1210 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sharp, William Frederick, Slavery on the Spanish Frontier: The Colombian Choco, 1680–1810 (Norman, 1976), 203 Google Scholar; Dean, Warren, Rio Claro: A Brazilian Plantation System, 1820–1920 (Stanford, 1976), 58.Google Scholar

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30 AGN, Padrones, 52.

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40 AN, 391 (1722).

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42 AN, 392 (1692).

43 AN, 325 (1666)

44 AN, 257 (1727).

45 AN, 391 (1723); AN, 391 (1721).

46 AN, 589 (1752).

47 AN, 700 (1725).

48 AN, 454 (1725).

49 AN, 454 (1725).

50 AN, 350 (1751).

51 AN, 196 (1723).

52 AN, 569 (1723).

53 The most recent literature on runaway slaves in Mexico can be found in Palmer, , Slaves, 52 ff.Google Scholar; Taylor, William B., “The Foundation of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Morenos de Amapa,” The Americas 26 (Apr. 1970), 439–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Carroll, Patrick J., “Mandiga; The Evolution of a Mexican Runaway Slave Community, 1737–1827,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 19 (Oct. 1977), 488–505 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Davidson, David M., “Negro Slave Control and Resistance in Colonial Mexico, 1519–1650,” HAHR 46 (Aug. 1966), 243 ff.Google Scholar

54 AGN, Inquisicion, 832.52 (1731); AGN, Inquisicion, 832.53 (1731); AGN, Inquisicion, 832.54 (1731).

55 AGN, Inquisicion, 1035.35 (1763); AGN, Inquisicion, 1035.4.

56 Archivo Judicial del Tribunal Superior del Distrito Federal, Mexico City, 92.18 (1738).

57 AGN, Inquisicion, 856.5 (1735).

58 AGN, Inquisicion, 849 ff. 504 a 545 (1734).

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