Puerto Rico, an island in the Caribbean, off the coast of the United States was discovered in 1493 by Christopher Columbus and his entourage, who claimed the small island for Spain. Unlike any other nation in the Western hemisphere that was involved in the slave trade, Puerto Rico initially began with the African freemen who came with the Spanish conquistadors. Originally populated by about sixty thousand Taino Indigenous people, benign diseases and attempted sucides soon decreased the population. As a result, African peoples were forced into slavery to help build fortifications, work the fields, and carryout slave owner’s domestic work thus entering Puerto Rico in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. However, the enslaved African peoples didn’t just contribute to the development of this new island; their traditions are what inspired the culture that Puerto Rico is built upon today.
The earliest Africans were seen in the same light as indentured servants from Europe. According to Hine D., Hine W., & Harrold S. (2014), they (Africans) interacted culturally and physically with the white indentured servants and with American Indians. This cordiality, however, did not last. By the latter half of the 17th century, obvious differences existed in the treatment of black and white servants. Slave codes were soon approved – in Massachusetts in 1641 and Virginia in 1661 –and any minor liberties that might have existed for African American were taken away (Feature Indentured Servants In The U.S , n.p.).
Van Sertima’s Main Argument Dr.Ivan Van Sertima was a Guyanese historian who is well known for his book “They Came before Columbus”. This book stemmed from his belief that there was an African presence in the Americas, the New World, before the voyages of discovery carried out by Christopher Columbus under the Spanish crown in 1492. Dr.Van Sertima’s arguments stemmed from a belief that there was African contact with the western world prior to Columbus’s voyages. The main basis of these statements comes from his idea of two visits by Africans to the west. These are the voyage of the Nubian rulers of Egypt in 712-664b.c.
Tribes such as the Lencas, the Tecan Uman, and the Nicarao soon started taking over the overall dying city of Copan. In 1502 Columbus sailed past the Islas de la Bahía and shortly thereafter reached the mainland of Central America. Columbus marked his first direct contact while trading with the civilizations of Honduran and northern Central America. Little exploration took place for the next two decades. That was until Spanish navigators Juan Díaz de Solís and Vicente Yáñez Pinzón touched on part of the Honduran coast in 1508 and devoted most of their efforts to exploring the area.
The baka tribe, although seemingly primitive in comparison to modern Britain share many similar beliefs and values, and on an whole are actually not that different, obviously they do not use the technology that we do but the basic structure of their society are much the same. The Baka practice Monogamous marriage, have a freedom to express their sentiments publically the same as modern Britain. Although there is no monetary system in place they exchange their goods with outside people for clothes and items that they cannot gather or produce themselves. A big difference in the structure of their society is the way they get the food that they need, they hunt and gather rather than farm, this is done as a collective and the food is prepared and shared between the whole tribe, so it could be similar to a basic welfare system as in Modern Britain. Role-play is evident amongst the Baka and yet the women are not treated any less than the men and seem to have equality with the men, and are considered politically influential and respected.
These differences include; the location of the colonized land, the treatment and relationship of the natives, reason for colonization, and the capitalization of the natural resources. The first one that will be addressed is the location of the colonized land. England colonization was on the east coast of modern day United States of America, while Spain’s colonization spanned from California, through Texas, and all the way down to Chile/Argentina. This land incorporated all of Central America and most of Southern America while England’s land was just a sliver down the East coast. By having such a small portion of the New World, England was able to focus in on it and see the potential it possessed.
Finally, Cortes first adventure was in 1511. He met a rich landowner named Diego Velazquez. Velazquez led a mission to conquer Cuba. Cortes joined forces with Velazquez. This mission was a success.
Columbus’s arrival to the “New World” was the first act in a century’s long drama of colonization and conquest. Europeans and their descendents displaced the Taino and their fellow Indians while remaking the Western Hemisphere. Columbus’s ships introduced Old World plants, animals, and micro-organisms into the New Worlds environment. This idea to bring manmade products to the New World had its consequences for the people of the old and new world. The New World was a much healthier place than the old world.
In 1505, Portugal established trade posts in East Africa. At these posts, products such as sugar, gold and even slaves were exchanged. The largest post for Sub-Saharan trade of gold and slaves happened to be located in North Africa. Africa lost what they had left of their independence in trade when the Dutch captured the
In fact, the first non-natives to settle the area were actually African slaves left behind by the Spanish in 1526, who left the country after a failing settlement attempt of their own. Some later settlers, and technically our first pilgrims, were Spanish Jews in search of a new place to secure their religious freedom. Another thing that Loewen mentions,