Enslaved Africans Arrive in Mexico with Cortés

Hernán Cortés brought enslaved Africans with him on his conquest of Mexico beginning in 1519. Among them were both enslaved laborers and free Black participants like Juan Garrido. As the conquest proceeded and indigenous populations collapsed under disease and violence, demand for enslaved African labor in New Spain (Mexico) rapidly grew. Mexico became a significant destination for the Atlantic slave trade, with an estimated 200,000 Africans imported over the colonial period.