“El tiempo de los libertos”: conflictos y litigación en torno a la ley de vientre libre en el Río de la Plata (1813-1860)

Abstract The article seeks to deepen the knowledge about the process of abolition of slavery in Argentina and its gradual nature. To this end, it addresses the legal disputes and the social consequences generated by two laws that opened this process in the Rio de la Plata region, the law "declaring the slaves' children free" - established in February 1813 and known as the Free Womb Law - and the later "Regulations for the education and exercise of freedmen". The article is twofold. On the one hand, it gives an account of the fragility of the freedom “given” to these emancipated children an...