I've read that Mexico at one point had the second-highest population of African slaves in the Americas. How and when was slavery abolished in Mexico?

by Bill_Nihilist

I just came across this stat in the wikipedia page for Veracruz, "Before the slave trade was abolished, Mexico had the second-highest population of African slaves in the Americas, following Brazil.[citation needed]" and I know Mexico's abolition of slavery was a big part of Texas' revolt, but I know nothing about the timeline and forces behind the abolition of slavery in Mexico, nor did I appreciate how vast it must have been prior to that. Gracias!

drylaw

Hey,

there was indeed a major population of African slaves in Mexico, especially following the abolishment of native slavery. It was an important destination during the Portuguese slave monopoly, though transports dropped off during the 17th century - when the British took over and dramatically increased the slave transports, especially to the Carribbean and Brazil. I go into this more for Mexico here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/9uvl8u/comment/e988wvv

Slavery was abolished in Mexico following independence, in 1829. For more on African American slaves and Mexico see this earlier answer - also /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov 's great answers in that thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/behgik/comment/el65uci

Hope this helps!