Native of West Africa, Sebastian Rodríguez Brito was one of a number of black freemen to join the ranks of the Spanish military during the time of the colonization of what is today the southwestern United States. While a free black man in Spanish America, … Read MoreSebastián Rodríguez Brito (ca. 1642-ca. 1717)
Chartered in 1672, the Royal African Company was a royally chartered company which had a legally based monopoly on English trade to West Africa until 1698. The monopoly specifically extended through five thousand miles of the western coast from Cape Sallee (in contemporary Morocco) to … Read MoreRoyal African Company
Born December 9, 1579 in Lima, Peru, St. Martin de Porres is best known for his charitable work. His piety allowed him access to the Dominican order of his country, and his acts of compassion for the sick became part of the justification for his … Read MoreMartin De Porres (1579-1639)
Matthias de Sousa, an indentured servant, was the only black person to serve in the colonial Maryland legislature. As such he is the first African American to sit in any legislative body in what would become the United States. As one of nine indentured servants … Read MoreMatthias de Sousa (?-?)
Palmares, or Quilombo dos Palmares, was a settlement of fugitive slaves established, gradually, from the early 1600s to 1694 about 60k inland from the northeast coast of Brazil around the regions of Pernambuco and Alagoas. Estimates indicated 10,000 to 20,000 fugitive slaves, native Brazilians and … Read MorePalmares (ca. 1605-1694)
A free woman of African descent living in Querétaro, Mexico, Isabel de Olvera joined a relief expedition to the recently colonized province of New Mexico in 1600. She traveled as a servant to a Spanish woman. Little is known about Olvera, except for an extraordinary … Read MoreIsabel de Olvera (?-?)
