A Chapter In U.S. History Often Ignored: The Flight Of Runaway Slaves To Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

February 28, 20217:00 AM ET

In a forgotten cemetery on the edge of Texas in the Rio Grande delta, Olga Webber-Vasques says she's proud of her family's legacy – even if she only just learned the full story.

Turns out her great-great-grandparents, who are buried here, were agents in the little-known underground railroad that led through South Texas to Mexico during the 1800s. Thousands of enslaved people fled plantations to make their way to the Rio Grande, which became a river of deliverance.

"I don't know why there wasn't anything that we would've known as we were growing up. It amazes me to learn the underground deal, I had no idea at all," says Webber-Vasques, 70, who recently learned the story of her forebearer, John Ferdinand Webber, from her daughter-in-law who has researched family history.

"I'm very proud to be a Webber," she says.

The flight of runaway slaves to Mexico is a chapter of history that is often overlooked or ignored. As the U.S. Treasury ponders putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill to commemorate her role in the northbound underground railroad, there is new attention to this southbound route.

More:
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/28/971325620/a-chapter-in-u-s-history-often-ignored-the-flight-of-runaway-slaves-to-mexico

Also posted in Editorials and other articles:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016288863

[abqtommy]

1. This is a very important and interesting facet of slaves seeking and finding freedom. There's a

lot of information concerning this topic* but it saddens me that "racism"**/ethnic bigotry has
existed for so long in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

*
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=history+of+runaway+slaves+in+the+U.S.+that++found+shelter+among+indigenous+people&ia=web

** I subscribe to what science tells me/us is the fact that there is only one race of people, and
that is The Human Race.

[Judi Lynn]

4. So much suffering, so much greed and hatred. Protection against it is so wildly needed always.

Thank you for your search idea and links. Looks like an education waiting!

I do have a link for Wikipedia regarding people who left to seek another place.

Excerpt:

Conflict with the U.S. over the expansion of slavery
Although Mexico did not abolish slavery immediately after independence, the expansion of Anglo-American settlement in Texas with their black slaves became a point of contention between the U.S. and Mexico. The northern territory had been claimed by the Spanish Empire but not settled beyond a few missions. The Mexican government saw a solution to the problem of Indian attacks in the north by inviting immigration by U.S. Americans. Rather than settling in the territory contested by northern Indian groups, the Anglo-Americans and their black slaves established farming in eastern Texas, contiguous to U.S. territory in Louisiana. Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante, concerned that the U.S. would annex Texas, sought to limit Anglo-American immigration in 1830 and mandate no new slaves in the territory.[60][61] Texas slave-owner and settler Stephen F. Austin viewed slavery as absolutely necessary to the success of the settlement, and managed to get an exemption from the law. Texas rebelled against the central Mexican government of Antonio López de Santa Anna, gaining its de facto independence in 1836. The Texas Revolution meant the continuation of black slavery and when Texas was annexed to the U.S. in 1845, it entered the Union as a slave state. However, Mexico refused to acknowledge the independence of the territory until after the Mexican American War (1846-1848), and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo drew the border between the two countries. After the ignominious defeat by the U.S., Mexican President José Joaquín de Herrera sent a bill to congress to create the state of Guerrero, named after the mixed-race hero of independence, from parts of Michoacan, Puebla, and Mexico, in the hot country where the insurgent leader held territory. Mexico became a destination for some Black slaves and mixed-race Black Seminoles fleeing enslavement in the U.S. They were free once they crossed into Mexican territory. [62]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Mexicans

I appreciate the door to more information you shared. Thank you.

[AllaN01Bear]

2. they aslo went into canada after finding the north wasnt as freindly to them either.

[Dream Girl]

3. Now there is a movement of African American millinials relocating to Mexico to live as expats

To escape racism in the US and a low cost of living. Some a cobbling together a living based on various side hassles or remote work with US employers. The city of Mexican on the Yucatán peninsula has become especially popular.there are meets up for black expats in some of these places - Mexico City, puerto Vallarta, Guadajara, Lake Chapala, etc.