In Mexico, former slaves embarked on a northward journey to gain liberty
Mexico, often overlooked in the history of the Underground Railroad, provided a crucial escape route for enslaved people seeking freedom by fleeing south rather than north. In the 19th century, Mexico served as a sanctuary for runaway slaves, a fact that has been largely ignored or forgotten.
Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, shortly after gaining independence from Spain in 1821. This made it a land of refuge for enslaved people escaping from Texas and other southern states where slavery persisted. The Underground Railroad through South Texas to Mexico was a significant, though often overlooked, escape route for freedom seekers [1].
While the more widely taught narrative of the Underground Railroad focuses on routes heading to northern states and Canada, many enslaved people in Texas fled south across the Rio Grande into Mexico. This route was particularly relevant because Texas, even as a Mexican territory initially, allowed slavery under exemption, and later after Texas gained independence, it fought to maintain slavery. Mexican abolitionist policies and enforcement made it a safer destination for freedom seekers [1][3].
The route consisted not just of physical paths but also incorporated safe havens supported by abolitionists, including families and communities that aided escaped enslaved people to rest and recover. Afro-Mexican communities with origins tracing back to escaped slaves still exist in northern Mexico today [1].
Exhibits and programs, such as those by the Galveston Historical Foundation and National Park Service, have recently begun to illuminate the southern Underground Railroad experience, highlighting how enslaved individuals risked life-threatening journeys through the Gulf Coast and across into Mexico to reach freedom [3][4]. These narratives challenge the dominant focus on northern routes and underscore Texas and the western U.S. as unique in the broader history of the Underground Railroad [4].
Research into families such as the biracial Webber family in the Rio Grande Valley documents the complex social dynamics and histories of freed and formerly enslaved people living near the U.S.-Mexico border in this era, illustrating how communities straddling the border provided social and economic sanctuary and integration [5].
The southern route to freedom was more informal than the northbound Underground Railroad. Enslaved people traversed South Texas on horseback to reach the border, often aided by Mexican laborers working in Texas who befriended slaves and acted as guides to help them escape south [1].
Some enslaved people saw Mexican troops as their liberators and fled to the ranks of the retreating Mexican army, hoping to make it to free Mexico, after the decisive Battle of San Jacinto [1]. Thousands of enslaved people fled plantations to make their way to the Rio Grande, which became a river of deliverance [1].
Alice Baumgartner, a historian at the University of Southern California, has published a book on the subject, titled "South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War" [1]. Researchers have found information about runaway slaves escaping to Mexico through nearly 19,000 Texas newspapers from the 1840s through the 1860s [1].
The Texas Runaway Slave Project, housed at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, has been researching fugitive slaves in Texas [1]. Olga Webber-Vasques' great-great-grandparents were agents in an underground railroad that led through South Texas to Mexico during the 1800s [1].
The borderlands were different from the rest of slaveholding Texas, with a white man, his Black wife, and their children being able to live in peace [1]. The Mexican Congress fully outlawed slavery in 1837, well before the United States did so with the 13th Amendment in 1865 [1]. Mexico began to gradually abolish slavery soon after it declared independence from Spain in 1821 [1].
Mexico's anti-slavery stance gave it a sort of "moral capital" during a time when the United States was seen as an aggressive, slaveholding nation [1]. Roseann Bacha-Garza, a borderlands historian, identifies pathways that people could follow to get to the Rio Grande [1].
In summary, the southern route of the Underground Railroad through South Texas to Mexico was a crucial but lesser-known chapter of freedom seeking during the era of American slavery. This route involved secret routes, safe houses, and strong local allyship despite the dangers. Contemporary recognition and exhibition efforts are expanding public knowledge of this corridor to freedom, highlighting the lasting legacy of these freedom seekers and the Afro-Mexican communities that still exist today.
Science and education-and-self-development can play crucial roles in exploring and preserving the lesser-known southern route of the Underground Railroad through South Texas to Mexico. For instance, researchers can utilize historical documents and artifacts to study the experiences of enslaved individuals who traversed this route, as in the case of the Texas Runaway Slave Project [1]. Furthermore, educators can incorporate this less-taught narrative into curriculum, challenging the dominant focus on northern routes and highlighting the unique role that Texas and Mexico played in the broader history of the Underground Railroad, thereby fostering self-development through increased historical awareness and empathy.
