Monarchies and Nations as spaces of freedom

Abstract

This article examines how the Province of Texas —under Spanish colonial rule until 1821— and later the State of Coahuila-Texas emerged as contested spaces of freedom for enslaved individuals from the late colonial period through the mid-nineteenth century. It explores the role of both viceregal and national authorities in shaping policies and practices that affected the status of those who escaped slavery by crossing the border from the slaveholding southern United States. The article analyzes the official discourses and concrete actions deployed by these authorities to either guarantee or restrict freedom. Through a proposed periodization, the study traces how shifting imperial and national borders influenced the decisions of enslaved people regarding their destinations and strategies for securing liberty and better living conditions. It further highlights how political transformations conditioned the evolving dynamics of escape, refuge, and claims to freedom from the late eighteenth century onward.