On Christmas Day 1521, in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo, the first recorded slave revolt in the Americas occurred. A group of African, likely Wolof, slaves came together with native Indians led by the Taino cacique Enriquillo to assert their independence. Beyond being the first slave revolt in the Americas, it was also one of the most important moments in Colonial American history because it was the first known instance when Africans and Indians united against their Spanish overlords in the Americas.
The defeat of the Dutch armies by the French and the founding of the Batavian Republic in 1795 created confusion in the colonies and on overseas naval vessels about who was in power. This article adds the mutinies on board the Ceres and Medea to the interplay between the Curacao slave revolt of 1795 and the rise of the Curacaoan Patriot movement in 1796. The mariners independently partook in the battle for the political direction of the island and debated which side they wished to be on in the fight between the French Revolution and the British Empire.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Journal Title Details:
42 (1): 131-153
Notes:
The passing of the British Abolition Act in 1807 owed much to the activism of women, enslaved and free, who employed diverse strategies to agitate for the ending of what was arguably the greatest crime against humanity. Reflects on women's role in Caribbean development and the struggles they faced in the process.
