Most Latin American nations abolished slavery before Britain did in 1833

Evidence

Abolition in Latin America spanned much of the nineteenth century, coming comparatively early to some but late to other countries. Argentina abolished slavery as early as 1813, Colombia in 1821, after quite widespread maroon revolt and the impact of free-living cimarrones communities. Guatemala followed suit in 1822, Chile and Costa Rica in 1824, Mexico in 1829, and Bolivia in 1831, all before the much celebrated British abolition throughout its empire in 1833–4. Panamanian and Venezuelan abolition followed 20 years later, in 1852 and 1854 respectively (also the year of Peru’s abolition). The Dutch abolished slavery throughout their colonial holdings in 1863, slavery in Puerto Rico, still under Spanish rule, lasted another 10 years, and in Cuba until 1886. Brazil, so self-celebrated for its later experiment in “racial democracy,” left slavery to linger as late as 1888, giving pause about claims of the benign Brazilian racial experience in slavery’s later years and in the wake of its demise. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1066

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ‘sacrifice’ article’s skeptical historiography—abolition chronology undercuts triumphalist Western emancipation narratives.
• SEED: Angle: a timeline essay on how abolition chronology undercuts the myth that Britain led global emancipation—many Latin American nations acted first via maroon revolt pressure.
• CANDY: Argentina abolished slavery 20 years before Britain abolished it empire-wide—a good trivia fact.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1066