Talk:Lorenzo de Zavala

Zavala's views on slavery
Although Zavala was very involved with the government of the Republic of Texas, he had in common with Santa Anna that both of them were strongly opposed to slavery.

https://institutofranklin.net/sites/default/files/revistas/%5B2020-11/CR10-7-KINNALLY.pdf

"His narrative intimates that both the U.S. and Mexico are linked by histories of slavery, as well as constant battles against slavery. Abolitionists throughout the Western world viewed and portrayed slavery first and foremost as a moral and humanitarian problem, and Zavala likewise highlights this aspect in his critique of U.S. slavery.6 When 31 reflecting upon his time in New Orleans (also, significantly, the first city in the United States that he visits), he voices one of his most forceful critiques of U.S. democracy, the continuation of slavery, which he describes as “degradante” and “humillante,” enforced by “leyes que contienen pricipios sumamente antiliberales” and “medidas de represion tan ofensivas á los derechos del hombre” (32-36). Moreover, he argues that slavery leads to moral decadence and political as well as cultural stagnation. He writes that laws permitting slavery have “una influencia estraordinaria sobre el progreso moral y la civilizacion de los Estados que permiten esclavos” (36). As evidence, he compares the current state of publishing in free and slave states. In free states, he shows, the numbers of newspapers have increased dramatically over the last 20 years, while in slave states the numbers have remained somewhat static (or even decreased in the case of Louisiana) (37). Zavala equates literacy, publishing, and education as proof of progress. His critique of slavery in the U.S. thus clearly highlights one more impediment to the realization of a truly liberal republic in the United States."7 GalantFan (talk) 19:50, 9 October 2023 (UTC)