Fifty-five years before Abraham Lincoln’s historic 1865 declaration, the father of Mexican Independence, Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, issued a decree declaring that the ignominy of slavery – for three centuries an integral part of life in colonial New Spain – be abolished in Mexico.
The date, December 6, 1810, is remembered more in the state of Jalisco than elsewhere, for Guadalajara was the site of the insurrectionist leader’s famous emancipation declaration.
The insurgent movement had won wide support during its successful drive across Western Mexico in the fall of 1810. However, when the curate of Dolores arrived in Guadalajara, it was to a mixed reception. The city was predominantly a stronghold of middle-class criollos (pure-blood descendants of Spanish settlers) unaccustomed to displays of radicalism. The concept of independence was not a deep-rooted one and struck fear into the hearts of the affluent conservative population. Many criollos were also involved in the purchase and sale of slaves. The impoverished masses, in contrast, welcomed the installation of a revolutionary government. To them, Hidalgo embodied their vision of the long-awaited liberator, at last able to free them from years of servitude at the hands of foreign masters.
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