Colombia

Between the 16th and first half of the 19th century, approximately 400,000 African slaves were brought to Nueva Granada through the ports of Havanna, Veracruz, Buenos Aires, and Cartagena. Cartagena received more than 60% of the traffic destined for the Virreinato Peruano. The late 18th century saw the rise of movements to abolish the institution of slavery, movements that were often part of the struggles for independence from Spain. In Colombia, Simon Bolivar was involved in an important, though ultimately unsuccessful, movement to abolish slavery. Finally in 1851 president José Hilario López signed the Ley de Manumisión o de Liberación de los Esclavos en la Nueva Granada that abolished slavery in Colombia.

Source: Web page "La Esclavitud en Colombia: 150 Años de su Abolición" from the Archivo General de la Nación de la República de Colombia, online at http://www.archivogeneral.gov.co/version2/htm/abolicion.htm.

From the guide to the Collection of Manuscripts Relating to Slavery in Colombia BENSON-MS SLAVERY IN COLOMBIA. N/A., 1779-1852, (Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin)