MEXICO
This was a compromise. Most Mexicans wanted immediate emancipation of all slaves. However, Stephen Austin and others desirous of attracting colonists thought that this would inhibit too many American Southerners from immigrating to Texas. Slave enthusiasts wanted no prohibition on slavery. The Mexican Emperor issued this compromise but was soon thereafter overthrown. The law was then repealed by the revolutionary government and emancipation was immediate. However, Austin was able to persuade the junta to keep the law in place for Texas only, and so it was. A similar law was being debated by Congress but the Southerners were able to block it. There were still slaves and slavery in Texas. Four years later {613642} there were more restrictions on slavery.
See {613644} for the earlier decree which this modified.
This ordinance opened the door somewhat to slavery again as Austin said it would “permit families to bring the necessary and indispensable house servants and laborers.” Earlier Mexican laws had abolished slavery in most of Mexico but left the door open in Texas. See {613642} and {613644}.
The booklet gives Mexicans life and health savings advice if they decide to try and cross the Northern border into the United States.
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 120 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world while being the second most populous country in Latin America. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, its capital and largest city.
