This is a follow up of a previous post i did in the OT for BHM but i thought it deserved it's own thread, this people deserve to be put in the spotlight since like most black people accomplishments get relegated, disminished or outright forgotten.
Now, as many know me, i'm not black, hell, i'm not even an US citizen or resident for that matter but i know the struggle that black people and other minorities have to face everyday to get recognized. I also know that even here in Mexico most of their acomplishment are not recognized either even if we suffer the same attrocities from the same opressors going back to the spanish conquista.
So, without furter ado, let's begin.
The Yanga Rebelion and who is Gaspar Yanga
The heritage of Africans in Mexico after Christopher Columbus is a rarely explored topic in the history books of the Americas. Gaspar Yanga is one of the neglected figures within African history in the Americas. He was the founder of the town Yanga, located in Veracruz, Mexico, between the El Puerto de Veracruz and Córdoba (known for it's coffee, and a must if you ever come here). It is among the first free African settlements in the Americas after the start of the European slave trade.
The history of the black race in Mexico is both illuminating and mysterious. What makes the story of especially profound is the lack of documentation and discussion on the subject.
Scholars have long been acquainted with the history of slavery in Mexico. In fact, long before the first Spanish galleons appeared on the horizon, the practice of slavery was common amongst several indigenous tribes in Mexico. So while it may be said that the Spanish did not invent slavery, they nonetheless relied upon it to expand their empire and to increase their already enormous wealth.
As the colonial period in Mexico unfolded, in particular during the 16th and 17th centuries, the indigenous population became decimated by disease. To make up for this labor shortage, African slaves were brought to Mexico to toil in sugar fields and work in underground mines. Worth four times more than their indigenous Indian counterparts, these African slaves were highly prized for their reported physical endurance and stamina in the hot, tropical sun.
Made to work under horrendous conditions on the sugar plantations of coastal Veracruz, attempting escape from their captors was the only viable option for these enslaved Africans. Those that were successful fled to the area high mountain ranges where jungle and canyons could hide and shelter them. Indigenous Indians also fled to these remote areas and joined forces with the escaped African slaves, forming communities and families.
A famous rebellion in Mexico's history was led by an African slave named Gaspar Yanga, around the year 1570. Believed to be a member of the royal house of Gabon, Africa, this hero was responsible for leading his fellow black slaves in a successful revolt. Under Yanga's leadership, these slaves were able to escape to safety in the highlands of Veracruz.
Gaspar Yanga? Who was him? Never heard of him before
Gaspar Yanga (often simply Yanga or Nyanga) was a leader of the slave rebellion in Mexico during the early period of the Spanish Empire colonial period.
Allegedly a member of the royal family of Gabon at the time, Gaspar Yanga became the leader of a band of slaves figthing for their freedom in a town of Veracruz , around 1570.
Escaping to the mountains, he and his people built the first free colony of America which called San Lorenzo de los Negros , though at first only had a small group. He lived for more than 30 years as a fugitive, partly surviving on hunting and capturing the caravans bringing goods to Veracruz.
However, in 1609 a decision was taken by the Spaniard colonial government to end the community and the rebellion of the slaves, who would win eventualy the battle for their emancipation.
A bit of history
The forced migration of the first Africans in the Americas during the period of the Conquest and the Colonia between 1519 and 1810. These were brought to work on sugar plantations, most of them came from Africa, although others came froms the Pacific Islands. The Spanish Crown had declared regulations to ensure they came more men than women slaves. The boats were divided in proportions of one-third for women and two thirds for men; leftovers especially women, unfortunately were eliminated or sold to other traders for their own use.
REGULATED SLAVE TRADE
The first authorized place by the Crown for the importation of slaves was the port of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz , later Tuxpan and Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico . Although they were intended to work in the sugar plantations, they were also used for other duties in the area of Orizaba. The Spaniards soon would realize that they had a natural resistance to the tropical climate, which could outperform the indigenous population, who by war and disease were almost extinguished. So the Crown authorized the creation of companies to import labor to the New Spain to meet the demand needed in the Iberian Peninsula .
The inhuman treatment to which they were subjected forced the slaves to protest in several ways this system: in the form of armed insurrections, attempted takeovers and escapes, which were severely punished by the laws derived from the Nicomachean Ethics on the slaves treatment and the prohibition of enslaving 'christians' and property.
The slaves who escaped were called Maroons. They built their palenques to live (also called mocambos and quilombos in their respective languages). The escape was considered a very serious crime; The charges were the theft of property, which under the laws meant that belonged to his master. This activity continued for almost three hundred years until the declaration of freedom promulgated in 1810.
For the Cimarron, were created mythical images that would contribute later reflected racial stereotypes in paintings of the time. These stereotypes were that the Maroons were wild, ferocious, indomitable and indolent people, hence the analogy with the dog that became feral which became untamed and undomesticated.
What little is known about Yanga is that it was caught in the region "Brang" or "Brong of Atabubu" also called "Bore" of the " Nation Brong "apparently of Guinea once belonging to the Empire of Ghana . following the route to Cape Verde other main mall slave domain Portuguese . This original ethnic group of Ghana will disembark in 1579 in the former Veracruz, and was led in chains to one of the sugar estates and alcohol in the province that today bears his name.
His description was that of a tall, more than usual, strong and intelligent, who dominated the Spanish language, soon to flee from their masters, and for thirty years head the rebellion, being caudillo of the Maroons.
The libertarian movement with Yanga consummate early in 1537, with the flight of the Maroons. In 1546 the Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza ordered hanged in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City two "black fugitives" called Juan Román and Juan Venegas . Hunting of African descent and took time and any slightest pretext could be executed. In this hunt many of the Maroons fled by the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to remote parts of Peru.
El Negro Yanga, in all his Monumental Glory
Rise of Yanga
According to historian Adriana Naveda, Yanga fled his master about in 1570 and took refuge close to what is now the city of Cordoba, leading a group of runaway slaves that eventually became more numerous. Although we don't have full knowledge about how their movement developed, we know that by 1609 the group exceeded five hundred men, so rumors of a large-scale revolt started.
During the government of Viceroy Luis de Velasco they tried alert allegations about a possible uprising of blacks by January 6 of that year, in which, according to rumors, the escapees would kill the white king and appoint a black Maroon. The ruling did not give more importance and all he did was send to whip several enslaved prisoners that were there by other types of crime. But the danger was evident when said group began to plunder the estates of the region. Many historians agree that the territory occupied by these runaways settled in were near the Cofre de Perote, the Sierra de Zongolica and area Omealca , in the state of Veracruz.
Yanga Maroons not only looted the estates and farms at their disposal to survive, which also assaulted during the colonial period was the Mexico-Veracruz road, a road that connected the main port in the Gulf with the capital of New Spain. Such attacks were of concern to the authorities because the road was the route of communication most important in America for its economic importance and was fundamental to the development of the New Spain.
This led the viceroy to send militia to subdue the military group, but the fugitives managed to defend themselves on more than one occasion, because the places where they took refuge were inaccessible, allowing them to protect themselves. That rebellion was not as others, because the losses were high and assaults to the royal road destabilized the colonial economy. Veracruz was the most affected, the entrance and exit of goods was damaged, so, in this case, wage war against those it was unprofitable and hopeless enterprise.
In 1609 news spreaded that blacks intended to kill the capital and crown one of their own (Yanga) and Viceroy take extreme measures against the rebels. Three years later come rumors that many blacks had been vanquished, who were butchered and their bodies stuck in spades by the main roads, to serve as a warning to the rebels.
The black population in the sixteenth century was 6% or 20,569. Due to the need for labor would increase shipments. As early as 1646 there was an average of nearly 168,000 blacks in the territory of New Spain as slaves.
The Spaniards attack
In the sixteenth century the Spanish Crown ordered a group formed by Indigenas, Creoles and mestizos, as well as some blacks to "pacify" the area of 'troublemakers' in 1609 and stop runaway slaves. The Jesuit priest Juan Florencio Laurencio wrote this on the "Rise of the Black" to the Crown.
The Spanish troops left from Puebla in January 1609 numbered about 550, of whom perhaps 100 soldiers were Spanish and the remaining recruits and adventurers, by then Yanga had thirty years being a fugitive, and was the leader in the mountains of Orizaba, and who he said that if I had not been as slave in his country would be king, his military charge or second after him was another runaway named Francisco Matosa (or Matiza), these to survive were engaged in assault carriages and passengers, as well as raids on neighboring farms, although later would be replaced by agriculture and breeding poultry.
The "peacekeeping" troops would win some battles which would hide the Maroons further into the jungle, but this was not always the case, the victories of the 'rebels' would be more than his losses, for it it would be many years before the Crown finally accept that the Maroons were not willing to return to slavery, and so would possibly forced to accept their demands.
The Maroons that they were facing a force of 100 fighters with guns, and 400 more armed with stones, machetes, bows and arrows. These troops were led by Francisco Matosa an Angolan. Yanga who was old at that time decided to use the superior knowledge of their troops on the ground to resist the Spaniards, in order to cause enough casualties to force them to begin negotiations.
When the Spaniards troops approached, Yanga sent terms of peace through a Spaniard captured. Essentially, Yanga requested a treaty to end hostilities between the Indigenas and the Spaniards, requested a separate area in exchange for tribute and promises to support the Spaniards if they were attacked. In addition, he suggested that the proposed area would return to any slave who could flee and tried to take refuge there. This last concession was necessary to calm the concerns of many slave owners in the region.
The Spaniards rejected the terms, and a battle broke out with heavy losses on both sides. The Spaniards advanced in the settlement of Yanga and burned it. However, people fled to the nearby terrains that for being difficult terrain prevented the Spaniards achieve a conclusive victory. Incapable a definitive victory, the Spaniards agreed to enter into negotiations. Possibly the terms of Yanga were agreed, with the rider that only Franciscans priests would attend their people and awarded to the family of Yanga the right to govern in this new area.
Between 1608 and 1609 the Spanish Crown was forced to accept the agreements, and the former slaves first settled in lomerío called Las Palmillas, when being growing the community demanded a larger field, which would be given years later in 1630 established the first free people of the Americas, called "The Free People of San Lorenzo de los Negros", near Cordoba, Veracruz.
During the colonial period the indigenous populations coexisted with the blacks of San Lorenzo, not without some issues, on the other hand the Spaniards continued invading the town, and burning the sugar mills and factories of alcohol of blacks and others properties, this was due to San Lorenzo becaming very productive competing economically with the Spanish colonial society, despite laws enacted against the black population there was an alliance between indigenous and black, confirming with marriages or mixing, and for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the population of San Lorenzo was already a mostly brown population, and with neighboring populations of Indians and Spaniards, 300 years after being declared free, in 1930 the village of San Lorenzo change its name to Yanga, as is currently known.
The Rise of Yanga will circulate through all racial and social circles of New Spain, this would bring the continuous rebellion of slaves and the belief of the national rebellion of these, in 1612 to appease the rebels a sad event in the history of Mexico that has not been explored truly, this is the case known as a conspiracy of blacks, written by historian Sunday Francisco de San Anton known as Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, an Indian nobleman Chalco . In this conspiracy would be hanged 35 black, 7 women and 28 men, fearing the Crown losing its territory as well as those of Spanish lineage, anyway the fight of Mexican independence in general and blacks will still follow.
Negotiate peace
As the situation dragged on and became increasingly complex and risky, Viceroy Velasco tried a writen agreement aimed at the fugitives, which gave them peace and granted them to live in the territories they occupied. Yanga had previously sent a request eleven considerations which included the release of all those who live in their settlement before 1608, and the creation of a legitimate people ruled by him and his heirs, excluding the Spaniards of this town (except for market days) and a consecrated church. In return, he promised to live peacefully, future cimarrones will return to their owners and serve the viceregal arms when required.
However, as the authorities were slow to send their reply, the black people resumed raids on farms and roads, in such a way that by a royal decree issued in 1618, the trustees of Huatusco founded a new town that took name villa Córdoba (Córdoba today), that really worked as a border against blacks to capture and destroy them. As he moved the foundation of the town of Cordoba militias harassed and constantly attacked the Maroons.
Given these conditions, and since the war against the runaways was very expensive, Viceroy Diego Fernandez de Cordoba accepted the terms set by Yanga provided they agree to pay an annual tribute and the presence of a priest who officiated Masses every so often. Thus, in 1618 the authorities decided to create the village of free blacks of San Lorenzo, with which the "infidels" internal enemies became his Christian subjects.
The difficulties
However, the situation remained complicated, because the agreements were not very clear, so the problem was extended a few years, until 1630, when the Viceroy Rodrigo Pacheco and Osorio , Marquess of Cerralvo, officially founded the town of San Lorenzo Cerralvo.
Until then the escaped blacks could populate the lower area of ​​Mount Totutla, approximately two miles from Córdoba and 'two musket shots "of the highway, however, such land could not sow and there was grass to breed animals , which in 1654 by mayors and councilors they requested a permit to move the village. So the December 30, 1654 and gave APRA license the following January the people moved elsewhere.
Thus, many freed blacks became the subject of a new slavery, which in terms of researcher Antonio Garcia de Leon, described as a peonage debts, comparing their situation to that of the Nahua Indians of the region, who soon they developed complicity and resistance strategies. That is, it was not easy for those blacks enjoy the freedom for which they fought.
Finally, in 1746 San Lorenzo was a village inhabited by about seventy families of free blacks, despite its very limited life conditions. As for what happened after the data are scarce, so it is difficult to know how the group managed to survive in adversity that imposed them to obtain better living conditions, a situation that continues so to this day.
Yanga in Mexican history
The history of African and Afro-descendants in Mexico is still unknown to much of the national society, because although many researchers have been given the task of spreading it is still a world of questions unanswered as to the social and cultural contributions that population bequeathed to the configuration of contemporary Mexico.
The history of the town of Yanga in the state of Veracruz is a case in point; show of resistance, but also on the ability of agency (understood as the social groups that have to make their own decisions) that enslaved Africans developed against the colonial system.
In popular discourse, it is stated that Yanga is the "first free town of America" ​​because of its early foundation in the early seventeenth century (two hundred years before the independence process in Mexico) at the hands of a runaway African origin. This "liberation" work has led some groups have identified Yanga as one of the greatest representatives of blackness. The name of the town has changed over time: first called San Lorenzo de los Negros , then San Lorenzo Cerralvo and finally Yanga , in honor of its founder.
As in many other parts of Mexico and America, in Veracruz cimarronaje was a constant hegemonic process between enslaved Africans, directed against the Spaniard authorities in order to achieve their freedom by fleeing. Sometimes, said cimarronaje was individual but as many collective, and sometimes resulted comprised of black fugitives, called "runaways" in the case of New Spain, who managed to survive alongside the colonial society, settlements until the the extermination or system completely dominated. Such was the case of Yanga.
Five decades after Mexican independence, Gaspar Yanga was named national hero of Mexico by the diligent work of Vicente Riva Palacio.
The influential Riva Palacio (grandson of the mestizo mulatto Vicente Guerrero) was a historian, novelist, military general and mayor of Mexico City during his long life.
At the end of the 1860s he recovered from the archives of the Inquisition notes on Yanga the expeditions against them, as well as the suffering of the family of Jewish ancestry named Carvajal, among others, and published in five volumes entitled Mexico through the centuries, still existing volumes and different characters who sought their freedom from Spanish rule, starting with Yanga. In their research the story was published in an anthology in 1870 emerged as separate pamphlet in 1873. The reprints have followed, including a recent edition in 1997. Others have written about Yanga, but none has matched the instinct of Riva Palacio to capturing the image of the proud fugitives that would not be defeated.
Historical symbols
Beyond the foundational process of Yanga, the Maroon figure of the African Yanga is a strong relation of struggle and resistance to the history of African and Afro-descendants, even today it is a symbol for many organizations and black movements, which claim the figure of Yanga along with countless other Maroons in America, since their actions managed to jeopardize the authorities of New Spain, even though, what they wanted was not to leverage and sought to change the colonial system but incorporate themselves socially to the system and move within the European culture, the dominant at the time.
The spread of the contributions of African and Afro-descendants in the discussion of national history implies valuing their contribution in building a collective identity, and the creation of a social environment in which the recognition of difference and cultural -ethnic - is the livelihood of a more inclusive and plural society.
There is a mural dedicated to the heroes of Mexico inside the building of Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, perhaps the only known nationally on the contribution of the "Third Root" in Mexico. This mural is titled "Song of Heroes," (Canto a los Heroes) among whom is Yanga behind Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and Cuauhtemoc , painted by the muralist Jose Gordillo in 1952.
Now, as many know me, i'm not black, hell, i'm not even an US citizen or resident for that matter but i know the struggle that black people and other minorities have to face everyday to get recognized. I also know that even here in Mexico most of their acomplishment are not recognized either even if we suffer the same attrocities from the same opressors going back to the spanish conquista.
So, without furter ado, let's begin.
The Yanga Rebelion and who is Gaspar Yanga
The heritage of Africans in Mexico after Christopher Columbus is a rarely explored topic in the history books of the Americas. Gaspar Yanga is one of the neglected figures within African history in the Americas. He was the founder of the town Yanga, located in Veracruz, Mexico, between the El Puerto de Veracruz and Córdoba (known for it's coffee, and a must if you ever come here). It is among the first free African settlements in the Americas after the start of the European slave trade.
The history of the black race in Mexico is both illuminating and mysterious. What makes the story of especially profound is the lack of documentation and discussion on the subject.
Scholars have long been acquainted with the history of slavery in Mexico. In fact, long before the first Spanish galleons appeared on the horizon, the practice of slavery was common amongst several indigenous tribes in Mexico. So while it may be said that the Spanish did not invent slavery, they nonetheless relied upon it to expand their empire and to increase their already enormous wealth.
As the colonial period in Mexico unfolded, in particular during the 16th and 17th centuries, the indigenous population became decimated by disease. To make up for this labor shortage, African slaves were brought to Mexico to toil in sugar fields and work in underground mines. Worth four times more than their indigenous Indian counterparts, these African slaves were highly prized for their reported physical endurance and stamina in the hot, tropical sun.
Made to work under horrendous conditions on the sugar plantations of coastal Veracruz, attempting escape from their captors was the only viable option for these enslaved Africans. Those that were successful fled to the area high mountain ranges where jungle and canyons could hide and shelter them. Indigenous Indians also fled to these remote areas and joined forces with the escaped African slaves, forming communities and families.
A famous rebellion in Mexico's history was led by an African slave named Gaspar Yanga, around the year 1570. Believed to be a member of the royal house of Gabon, Africa, this hero was responsible for leading his fellow black slaves in a successful revolt. Under Yanga's leadership, these slaves were able to escape to safety in the highlands of Veracruz.
Gaspar Yanga? Who was him? Never heard of him before
Gaspar Yanga (often simply Yanga or Nyanga) was a leader of the slave rebellion in Mexico during the early period of the Spanish Empire colonial period.
Allegedly a member of the royal family of Gabon at the time, Gaspar Yanga became the leader of a band of slaves figthing for their freedom in a town of Veracruz , around 1570.
Escaping to the mountains, he and his people built the first free colony of America which called San Lorenzo de los Negros , though at first only had a small group. He lived for more than 30 years as a fugitive, partly surviving on hunting and capturing the caravans bringing goods to Veracruz.
However, in 1609 a decision was taken by the Spaniard colonial government to end the community and the rebellion of the slaves, who would win eventualy the battle for their emancipation.
A bit of history
The forced migration of the first Africans in the Americas during the period of the Conquest and the Colonia between 1519 and 1810. These were brought to work on sugar plantations, most of them came from Africa, although others came froms the Pacific Islands. The Spanish Crown had declared regulations to ensure they came more men than women slaves. The boats were divided in proportions of one-third for women and two thirds for men; leftovers especially women, unfortunately were eliminated or sold to other traders for their own use.
REGULATED SLAVE TRADE
The first authorized place by the Crown for the importation of slaves was the port of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz , later Tuxpan and Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico . Although they were intended to work in the sugar plantations, they were also used for other duties in the area of Orizaba. The Spaniards soon would realize that they had a natural resistance to the tropical climate, which could outperform the indigenous population, who by war and disease were almost extinguished. So the Crown authorized the creation of companies to import labor to the New Spain to meet the demand needed in the Iberian Peninsula .
The inhuman treatment to which they were subjected forced the slaves to protest in several ways this system: in the form of armed insurrections, attempted takeovers and escapes, which were severely punished by the laws derived from the Nicomachean Ethics on the slaves treatment and the prohibition of enslaving 'christians' and property.
The slaves who escaped were called Maroons. They built their palenques to live (also called mocambos and quilombos in their respective languages). The escape was considered a very serious crime; The charges were the theft of property, which under the laws meant that belonged to his master. This activity continued for almost three hundred years until the declaration of freedom promulgated in 1810.
For the Cimarron, were created mythical images that would contribute later reflected racial stereotypes in paintings of the time. These stereotypes were that the Maroons were wild, ferocious, indomitable and indolent people, hence the analogy with the dog that became feral which became untamed and undomesticated.
What little is known about Yanga is that it was caught in the region "Brang" or "Brong of Atabubu" also called "Bore" of the " Nation Brong "apparently of Guinea once belonging to the Empire of Ghana . following the route to Cape Verde other main mall slave domain Portuguese . This original ethnic group of Ghana will disembark in 1579 in the former Veracruz, and was led in chains to one of the sugar estates and alcohol in the province that today bears his name.
His description was that of a tall, more than usual, strong and intelligent, who dominated the Spanish language, soon to flee from their masters, and for thirty years head the rebellion, being caudillo of the Maroons.
The libertarian movement with Yanga consummate early in 1537, with the flight of the Maroons. In 1546 the Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza ordered hanged in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City two "black fugitives" called Juan Román and Juan Venegas . Hunting of African descent and took time and any slightest pretext could be executed. In this hunt many of the Maroons fled by the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to remote parts of Peru.
El Negro Yanga, in all his Monumental Glory
Rise of Yanga
According to historian Adriana Naveda, Yanga fled his master about in 1570 and took refuge close to what is now the city of Cordoba, leading a group of runaway slaves that eventually became more numerous. Although we don't have full knowledge about how their movement developed, we know that by 1609 the group exceeded five hundred men, so rumors of a large-scale revolt started.
During the government of Viceroy Luis de Velasco they tried alert allegations about a possible uprising of blacks by January 6 of that year, in which, according to rumors, the escapees would kill the white king and appoint a black Maroon. The ruling did not give more importance and all he did was send to whip several enslaved prisoners that were there by other types of crime. But the danger was evident when said group began to plunder the estates of the region. Many historians agree that the territory occupied by these runaways settled in were near the Cofre de Perote, the Sierra de Zongolica and area Omealca , in the state of Veracruz.
Yanga Maroons not only looted the estates and farms at their disposal to survive, which also assaulted during the colonial period was the Mexico-Veracruz road, a road that connected the main port in the Gulf with the capital of New Spain. Such attacks were of concern to the authorities because the road was the route of communication most important in America for its economic importance and was fundamental to the development of the New Spain.
This led the viceroy to send militia to subdue the military group, but the fugitives managed to defend themselves on more than one occasion, because the places where they took refuge were inaccessible, allowing them to protect themselves. That rebellion was not as others, because the losses were high and assaults to the royal road destabilized the colonial economy. Veracruz was the most affected, the entrance and exit of goods was damaged, so, in this case, wage war against those it was unprofitable and hopeless enterprise.
In 1609 news spreaded that blacks intended to kill the capital and crown one of their own (Yanga) and Viceroy take extreme measures against the rebels. Three years later come rumors that many blacks had been vanquished, who were butchered and their bodies stuck in spades by the main roads, to serve as a warning to the rebels.
The black population in the sixteenth century was 6% or 20,569. Due to the need for labor would increase shipments. As early as 1646 there was an average of nearly 168,000 blacks in the territory of New Spain as slaves.
The Spaniards attack
In the sixteenth century the Spanish Crown ordered a group formed by Indigenas, Creoles and mestizos, as well as some blacks to "pacify" the area of 'troublemakers' in 1609 and stop runaway slaves. The Jesuit priest Juan Florencio Laurencio wrote this on the "Rise of the Black" to the Crown.
The Spanish troops left from Puebla in January 1609 numbered about 550, of whom perhaps 100 soldiers were Spanish and the remaining recruits and adventurers, by then Yanga had thirty years being a fugitive, and was the leader in the mountains of Orizaba, and who he said that if I had not been as slave in his country would be king, his military charge or second after him was another runaway named Francisco Matosa (or Matiza), these to survive were engaged in assault carriages and passengers, as well as raids on neighboring farms, although later would be replaced by agriculture and breeding poultry.
The "peacekeeping" troops would win some battles which would hide the Maroons further into the jungle, but this was not always the case, the victories of the 'rebels' would be more than his losses, for it it would be many years before the Crown finally accept that the Maroons were not willing to return to slavery, and so would possibly forced to accept their demands.
The Maroons that they were facing a force of 100 fighters with guns, and 400 more armed with stones, machetes, bows and arrows. These troops were led by Francisco Matosa an Angolan. Yanga who was old at that time decided to use the superior knowledge of their troops on the ground to resist the Spaniards, in order to cause enough casualties to force them to begin negotiations.
When the Spaniards troops approached, Yanga sent terms of peace through a Spaniard captured. Essentially, Yanga requested a treaty to end hostilities between the Indigenas and the Spaniards, requested a separate area in exchange for tribute and promises to support the Spaniards if they were attacked. In addition, he suggested that the proposed area would return to any slave who could flee and tried to take refuge there. This last concession was necessary to calm the concerns of many slave owners in the region.
The Spaniards rejected the terms, and a battle broke out with heavy losses on both sides. The Spaniards advanced in the settlement of Yanga and burned it. However, people fled to the nearby terrains that for being difficult terrain prevented the Spaniards achieve a conclusive victory. Incapable a definitive victory, the Spaniards agreed to enter into negotiations. Possibly the terms of Yanga were agreed, with the rider that only Franciscans priests would attend their people and awarded to the family of Yanga the right to govern in this new area.
Between 1608 and 1609 the Spanish Crown was forced to accept the agreements, and the former slaves first settled in lomerío called Las Palmillas, when being growing the community demanded a larger field, which would be given years later in 1630 established the first free people of the Americas, called "The Free People of San Lorenzo de los Negros", near Cordoba, Veracruz.
During the colonial period the indigenous populations coexisted with the blacks of San Lorenzo, not without some issues, on the other hand the Spaniards continued invading the town, and burning the sugar mills and factories of alcohol of blacks and others properties, this was due to San Lorenzo becaming very productive competing economically with the Spanish colonial society, despite laws enacted against the black population there was an alliance between indigenous and black, confirming with marriages or mixing, and for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the population of San Lorenzo was already a mostly brown population, and with neighboring populations of Indians and Spaniards, 300 years after being declared free, in 1930 the village of San Lorenzo change its name to Yanga, as is currently known.
The Rise of Yanga will circulate through all racial and social circles of New Spain, this would bring the continuous rebellion of slaves and the belief of the national rebellion of these, in 1612 to appease the rebels a sad event in the history of Mexico that has not been explored truly, this is the case known as a conspiracy of blacks, written by historian Sunday Francisco de San Anton known as Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, an Indian nobleman Chalco . In this conspiracy would be hanged 35 black, 7 women and 28 men, fearing the Crown losing its territory as well as those of Spanish lineage, anyway the fight of Mexican independence in general and blacks will still follow.
Negotiate peace
As the situation dragged on and became increasingly complex and risky, Viceroy Velasco tried a writen agreement aimed at the fugitives, which gave them peace and granted them to live in the territories they occupied. Yanga had previously sent a request eleven considerations which included the release of all those who live in their settlement before 1608, and the creation of a legitimate people ruled by him and his heirs, excluding the Spaniards of this town (except for market days) and a consecrated church. In return, he promised to live peacefully, future cimarrones will return to their owners and serve the viceregal arms when required.
However, as the authorities were slow to send their reply, the black people resumed raids on farms and roads, in such a way that by a royal decree issued in 1618, the trustees of Huatusco founded a new town that took name villa Córdoba (Córdoba today), that really worked as a border against blacks to capture and destroy them. As he moved the foundation of the town of Cordoba militias harassed and constantly attacked the Maroons.
Given these conditions, and since the war against the runaways was very expensive, Viceroy Diego Fernandez de Cordoba accepted the terms set by Yanga provided they agree to pay an annual tribute and the presence of a priest who officiated Masses every so often. Thus, in 1618 the authorities decided to create the village of free blacks of San Lorenzo, with which the "infidels" internal enemies became his Christian subjects.
The difficulties
However, the situation remained complicated, because the agreements were not very clear, so the problem was extended a few years, until 1630, when the Viceroy Rodrigo Pacheco and Osorio , Marquess of Cerralvo, officially founded the town of San Lorenzo Cerralvo.
Until then the escaped blacks could populate the lower area of ​​Mount Totutla, approximately two miles from Córdoba and 'two musket shots "of the highway, however, such land could not sow and there was grass to breed animals , which in 1654 by mayors and councilors they requested a permit to move the village. So the December 30, 1654 and gave APRA license the following January the people moved elsewhere.
Thus, many freed blacks became the subject of a new slavery, which in terms of researcher Antonio Garcia de Leon, described as a peonage debts, comparing their situation to that of the Nahua Indians of the region, who soon they developed complicity and resistance strategies. That is, it was not easy for those blacks enjoy the freedom for which they fought.
Finally, in 1746 San Lorenzo was a village inhabited by about seventy families of free blacks, despite its very limited life conditions. As for what happened after the data are scarce, so it is difficult to know how the group managed to survive in adversity that imposed them to obtain better living conditions, a situation that continues so to this day.
Yanga in Mexican history
The history of African and Afro-descendants in Mexico is still unknown to much of the national society, because although many researchers have been given the task of spreading it is still a world of questions unanswered as to the social and cultural contributions that population bequeathed to the configuration of contemporary Mexico.
The history of the town of Yanga in the state of Veracruz is a case in point; show of resistance, but also on the ability of agency (understood as the social groups that have to make their own decisions) that enslaved Africans developed against the colonial system.
In popular discourse, it is stated that Yanga is the "first free town of America" ​​because of its early foundation in the early seventeenth century (two hundred years before the independence process in Mexico) at the hands of a runaway African origin. This "liberation" work has led some groups have identified Yanga as one of the greatest representatives of blackness. The name of the town has changed over time: first called San Lorenzo de los Negros , then San Lorenzo Cerralvo and finally Yanga , in honor of its founder.
As in many other parts of Mexico and America, in Veracruz cimarronaje was a constant hegemonic process between enslaved Africans, directed against the Spaniard authorities in order to achieve their freedom by fleeing. Sometimes, said cimarronaje was individual but as many collective, and sometimes resulted comprised of black fugitives, called "runaways" in the case of New Spain, who managed to survive alongside the colonial society, settlements until the the extermination or system completely dominated. Such was the case of Yanga.
Five decades after Mexican independence, Gaspar Yanga was named national hero of Mexico by the diligent work of Vicente Riva Palacio.
The influential Riva Palacio (grandson of the mestizo mulatto Vicente Guerrero) was a historian, novelist, military general and mayor of Mexico City during his long life.
At the end of the 1860s he recovered from the archives of the Inquisition notes on Yanga the expeditions against them, as well as the suffering of the family of Jewish ancestry named Carvajal, among others, and published in five volumes entitled Mexico through the centuries, still existing volumes and different characters who sought their freedom from Spanish rule, starting with Yanga. In their research the story was published in an anthology in 1870 emerged as separate pamphlet in 1873. The reprints have followed, including a recent edition in 1997. Others have written about Yanga, but none has matched the instinct of Riva Palacio to capturing the image of the proud fugitives that would not be defeated.
Historical symbols
Beyond the foundational process of Yanga, the Maroon figure of the African Yanga is a strong relation of struggle and resistance to the history of African and Afro-descendants, even today it is a symbol for many organizations and black movements, which claim the figure of Yanga along with countless other Maroons in America, since their actions managed to jeopardize the authorities of New Spain, even though, what they wanted was not to leverage and sought to change the colonial system but incorporate themselves socially to the system and move within the European culture, the dominant at the time.
The spread of the contributions of African and Afro-descendants in the discussion of national history implies valuing their contribution in building a collective identity, and the creation of a social environment in which the recognition of difference and cultural -ethnic - is the livelihood of a more inclusive and plural society.
There is a mural dedicated to the heroes of Mexico inside the building of Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, perhaps the only known nationally on the contribution of the "Third Root" in Mexico. This mural is titled "Song of Heroes," (Canto a los Heroes) among whom is Yanga behind Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and Cuauhtemoc , painted by the muralist Jose Gordillo in 1952.
The mural Canto a los Heroes (fresco made in 1952) is the work of easel painter, muralist, sculptor, writer and teacher, Jose Gordillo, member of the Escuela Mexicana and student of David Alfaro Siqueiros, Dr. Atl and Diego Rivera, with whom he collaborated in the underwater mural sump of the Lerma River and the Insurgentes Theatre in Mexico City.
The mural presents on top a worker in a circle surrounded by devices that symbolize technology and industry. He holds in his right hand with a victorious attitude a cloak with the colors of the Mexican flag. At the bottom of characters representing the most important periods of Mexican history.
From left to right: the last Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc; the black Yanga who seeking his release on Veracruz and founded his own people; poet Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz; insurgents Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Vicente Guerrero, Jose Maria Morelos and Javier Mina; the time of the Reformation Benito Juarez and Melchor Ocampo; revolutionary Ricardo Flores Magon, Felipe Angeles, Guadalupe Rodriguez, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco Villa, Austreberta Renteria (wife of Villa) and General Lucio Blanco, and finally at the right end, President Lazaro Cardenas, whom the expropriation is due oil in 1938.
Data in situ
Canto heroes of Jose Gordillo sits on the stairs between the ground floor and first floor of the Museum of the Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico, Former Archbishop's Palace
"African Black liberator and precursor of the black slaves who founded the town of San Lorenzo de Cerralvo (now Yanga) by agreement of the viceroy of New Spain, Rodrigo Pacheco, on the third day of October 1631 by order of the viceroy's pen.Village Captain Hernando of Castro Espinosa H. Ayuntamento Constl. 1973-1976"
Today, the town reportedly hosts the Carnival of Negritude (Also known today as Festival de Yanga) every August 10th in honor of Gaspar Yanga. The town reports approximately 20,000 citizens that is now primarily considered mestizo, Spanish for "mixed heritage".
