Abolition in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abolition across Latin America and the Caribbean followed many paths, shaped by independence wars, economics and local resistance. During the wars of independence, leaders such as Simón Bolívar promised freedom to enslaved men who joined their armies. Chile abolished slavery in 1823 and Mexico in 1829, but elsewhere governments preferred gradual measures, such as 'free womb' laws declaring children of enslaved mothers free at birth.

Spain's colonies held out longer: Puerto Rico ended slavery in 1873 and Cuba, where sugar wealth depended on enslaved labour, in 1886. Brazil, the largest slave society in the Americas, passed a free womb law in 1871 and finally abolished slavery with the Golden Law of 13 May 1888, the last country in the Americas to do so. Mass flight from plantations, abolitionist campaigns and military reluctance to hunt escapees all contributed. The diversity of paths shows that abolition was shaped by local politics as much as by international pressure.