# The abolition of slavery  
Independence from Spain in Central America occurred in 1821, and a Constitutional Assembly was formed to establish the new laws that would guide the nascent republics. Starting with the call to form this assembly, we see evidence of Afrodescendent influence. It was agreed that one representative would be appointed for every 15,000 individuals, emphasizing the phrase 'without excluding those of African origins'. A study of the assembly's proceedings reveals an intense year of discussion on one basic concept: freedom (AGCA B, Leg 91, Exp. 2472). Among these proceedings, one letter stands out. Signed by six enslaved people, it was read in 1823 by the assembly. The letter reads:  
The civil freedom of men is [an] invaluable jewel.... God does not want the men that He has cast into a free world to be enslaved. . . The origin of slavery ... is no more than the uncontrolled greed of men who, to increase their wealth, have infested the $\ldots$ coasts of Africa, enslaving their inhabitants, which clearly,... is no other [thing] than to rob them of their precious jewel of freedom, and deprive them the social life of [those] who are their cruel murderers, a principle which [must be] rejected and labelled as illegal $\ldots$ because what legality can it offer, $\ldots$ if the natural law shows us... that all men have been born free?  
The discussion about freedom continued amid fierce confrontations. Two positions emerged. Some argued that freedom should be immediate; others believed that the enslaved individuals should pay for their freedom. In the end,  
the commission appointed to study the abolition of slavery recommended an immediate end to the law of the womb and the granting to enslaved individuals of both freedom without the need for payment, and citizenship rights.