Desde el norte hacia el sur: esclavizados fugitivos en la frontera texano-mexicana

Abstract

Abstract This article studies the conceptions that some enslaved people and slave owners of Texas had about the Mexican-American border between 1821 and 1866. From interviews with enslaved people by agency Works Progress Administration and announcements of escapes published in some Texan newspapers, it was possible to observe that, while the people enslaved understood the border as a space of freedom and social advancement, it also represented a threat to the lifestyle of slave owners. Motivated by this idea, thousands of enslaved people crossed from Texas to Mexico looking for better life conditions and materializing their notions of the border.