Mexico land of freedom. Migrations of enslaved African Americans to Mexican territory in the 19th century

Abstract

Academic interest in migratory processes on the Mexico-United States border has traditionally focused on the arrival of diverse subjects to the north of the Rio Grande / Bravo from the southern neighbor. However, the historical building of this border involved different social actors and processes that constituted multidimensional migratory flows. Among others, approximately 4,000 enslaved African Americans left United States in their way to Mexico during 19th century. This paper will analyze the representations that these African-American men and women built about the border. In their role as historical agents, they associated Mexico with possibilities of freedom and social mobility and, as a result, they crossed to the south despite the difficulties it implied.