Contrary to poular belief, the marjority of African slaves imported from Africa to the Americans arrived in South and central America as opposed to North. Living in the U.S. tends to give person a single minded view on our own presence in history, when the truth is, in terms of Slavery, the United State's slave counted was miniscule compared to that of say brazil's, and at one time, Mexico's. The Slave trade in Mexico began with the arrival of the Spanish conquestidor, Hernan Cortes in 1519, and really took off with the fall of the aztec empire in 1521 (Gates) . On the ruins of Tenochtitlan, Cortes would bild a colony which would grow to become modern day Mexico city. In his book Black in Latin America Henry Louis Gates jr. discusses just how massive the slave trade was in mexico and peru as opposed to popular belief. gates states that, "Approximately seven hundred thousand Africans were brought to Mexico and Peru combined over the course of the slave trade" (Gates). So when did all these Africans come? How did the come? And what did they do once they got here? African slaves were used as a "good" fit for trade along the triangle trade route. Slaves were traded for good needed in African then sailed by European ships to the New world and traded for goods again to American markets. This trip along the atlantic called the Middle Passage, would be the hardest for slaves and an esimated 15% of them would perish on behalf of dehydration. For the last leg of the slave trade, the goods the slaves were treded for were then shipped back to Europe (Gates). The New European population during the 16th and 17th centuries, also brought with them diseases unknown to the indigenous. As a results the need for African slaves to work in Mexican silver mines and Sugar plantations, became more prominant. Which also increased Mexico's paerticipation in the Atlantic Triangle Trade Route (History).
References: Gates, Henry Louis. Black in Latin America. New York: New York UP, 2011. Print.
Gates, Henryl L., Jr. "The African-American Migration Story." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/on-african-american-migrations/>.
"History of Blacks in Mexico - Afro-Mexican Influences - Mexico." History of Blacks in Mexico - Afro-Mexican Influences - Mexico. Mexonline, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. <http://www.mexonline.com/history-blacks.htm>.