Slavery was a big issue between the colonists and the Mexicans. Mexicans hated slavery as it was allowed in the United States, but realistic politicians ignored the system because they wanted the Anglos to produce cotton in Texas. National and state laws banned the African slave trade, but allowed Anglo-Americans to bring their family slaves with them to Texas and to buy and sell them there until 1840. Grandchildren of those slaves would be freed when they reached a certain age. The state mentioned that it might free slaves, so the immigrants had their illiterate servants sign indenture contracts binding them for 99 years to work to pay off their purchase price, upkeep, and transportation to Texas. Black slaves continued to arrive in Texas.

The most serious threat to Anglo slaveholders was when Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero freed all slaves on September 15, 1829, in celebration of independence. Austin’s contacts got an exemption from the law for Texas.

Source: Anglo-American Colonization
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