Afro-Latino History · Unit 1
Before the Colonies: Africans in the Early Spanish Americas
The Black presence in the Spanish Caribbean before Jamestown
Before the first enslaved Africans arrived in British North America, tens of thousands had already lived, fought, and built free communities across the Spanish Caribbean and Latin America. This unit examines the earliest documented African presence in the Americas — from the Black conquistadors to the first legally recognized free Black town in the Western Hemisphere.
Learning Objectives
- •Explain why 1619 is not the starting point of the African presence in the Americas and identify earlier documented arrivals.
- •Describe the role of Juan Garrido and other free Africans in the Spanish colonial enterprise.
- •Analyze how Gaspar Yanga's palenque challenged Spanish colonial authority and established the first legally recognized free Black town in the Americas.
- •Compare the experience of free Africans in the early Spanish Caribbean to that of enslaved Africans brought to English Virginia.
Unit 1 Knowledge Check
Score 70% or higher to complete this unit. Answers stay hidden until you submit.
1. Which best describes the terms of the 1618 treaty that established San Lorenzo de los Negros?
2. What was San Lorenzo de los Negros?
3. What made Juan Garrido's 1538 probanza de mérito historically significant?
4. About how much earlier did the first documented Africans (enslaved and free) arrive in Spanish Santo Domingo compared to the first recorded enslaved Africans in English Virginia (1619)?