Abstract

DELGADILLO NUNEZ, Jorge E.. Slavery, Abolition and Afro-Descendants: Historical Memory and the Construction of Identities in the Mexican Press, 1840-1860. Hist. mex. [online]. 2019, vol.69, n.2, pp.743-788.  Epub Nov 20, 2019. ISSN 2448-6531.  https://doi.org/10.24201/hm.v69i2.3978.

Through an analysis of the Mexican press from the 1840s to the 1860s, this article shows that Afro-descendants, slavery and abolition continued to be issues of public interest after independence. The discussion of these issues in contemporary newspapers had the political purpose of contributing to the construction of identities related to citizenship and, at the macro level, to the creation of a regional and transnational historical memory. By using the press as a primary source, this article reveals the ways in which Mexico intervened in debates on slavery and its abolition in the contemporary Atlantic world while highlighting the contribution of Mexican periodicals to the construction of the ideas of Hispanic America and Latin America. Through its analysis, this article contributes to the historiographic discussion on the presence of slavery and Afro-descendants in Mexico, expanding the period studied from the well-understood colonial era to the republican era.

Keywords : Slavery; Abolitionism; Afro-descendants; Press; Hispanic America; Latin America.