California’s Complex History with Slavery: Beyond the Myths of Founding Principles
California’s relationship with slavery is far more nuanced than commonly understood. while often presented as a state founded on principles of freedom – with its 1849 constitution prohibiting slavery and the 13th Amendment reaffirming that ban in 1865 – another history reveals a state where the practice ended three decades earlier, during its time as part of Mexico, and where the legacy of enslavement continued to cast a long shadow even after statehood. This story underscores the hemispheric nature of slavery and the uneven path toward abolition across the Americas.
The narrative of slavery’s rise and fall is frequently framed as a national, and largely Southern, story within the United States. However, enslaved Africans were present across the Western Hemisphere, from Chile and Argentina to Canada. Similarly, the end of slavery wasn’t solely the result of the U.S. Civil War, but a centuries-long struggle fueled by resistance – through rebellions, wars, sabotage, and self-emancipation – throughout the Americas. California’s story is inextricably linked to this broader context.
Following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, enslaved people were brought to Mexico, and simultaneously, the exploitation of Indigenous labor persisted, including in the lands that would become California and New Mexico. Ther, Indigenous people, frequently enough forcibly “detribalized” and known as genízaros, were subjected to servitude that closely resembled slavery.
A turning point arrived in 1829 when vicente Guerrero, mexico’s president and a man of partial African descent, formally abolished slavery. This decision sparked outrage in the Texas territory, heavily populated by U.S. immigrants who were slaveholders. By 1836,Texas had declared its independence,and slavery was officially reinstated there the following year. Mexico then became a haven for those fleeing enslavement in the U.S., offering a closer refuge than the Underground Railroad leading to the northern states or Canada. Historian Alice Baumgartner estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000 enslaved people escaped to Mexico from the U.S. during this period.
This sanctuary was substantially diminished by the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded 51% of Mexico’s territory to the United States, including New Mexico and California, which were colonized in 1769. These lands ultimately formed the states of California, New Mexico, Arizona, utah, Nevada, and portions of Colorado and Wyoming.
The issue of slavery resurfaced in these newly acquired territories. During the California Gold Rush, prospectors from the South brought enslaved people to work their claims. By 1850, estimates suggest between 500 and 1,500 enslaved people were present in California, their status often obscured despite the state constitution’s prohibition. While some individuals found freedom in those early years, the passage of a California Fugitive Slave Law in 1852 allowed for the return of those brought to the state before its admission to the union, sending many back to Southern plantations. the Utah and New Mexico territories, which wouldn’t achieve statehood until 1896 and 1912 respectively, enacted slave codes to regulate the treatment of both Black and Native American people in servitude or bondage.
Meanwhile,much of Spanish America had begun to dismantle the slave trade and implement gradual emancipation measures as early as 1811,with full abolition achieved by the mid-1850s. Had California remained part of Mexico, it likely would have followed this earlier trajectory, avoiding the continuation – and reintroduction – of enslavement.
For four centuries, slavery shaped the Americas, leaving a lasting scar across the hemisphere. The struggle to abolish it extended far beyond the U.S. and the South, continuing for decades after the U.S. Civil War in places like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. Oversimplified narratives – such as “California banned slavery at its founding” or “slavery ended in 1865” – fail to capture the full complexity of this history. The case of California illuminates the unevenness of abolition and the often-broken promises of freedom, serving as a crucial reminder of the need for a broader viewpoint when examining enslavement and freedom throughout the Americas.
Carrie Gibson is the author of the forthcoming “The Great Resistance: the 400-Year Fight to End Slavery in the Americas” and of “El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America.”
