| Abstrakt: |
The article discusses the slave code in New Mexico territory from 1859 to 1861. An overview of the territory's small slave population, due to its lack of plantations and its landscape that was suited for livestock and grazing, is provided. The New Mexican U.S. House of Representative member Miguel A. Otero's efforts to pass a slave code, in order to promote social equality among the non-slave population and to maintain his seat as a Democrat in the U.S. Congress, are discussed. The impact that the New Mexico territory's slave code had on U.S. national politics, including U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the law, is discussed. |
