Estevan, aka, Estevanico, Estebanico, Black Stephen
Approximately 54% of all enslaved Africans brought to the New World between 1519 and 1700 disembarked in Spanish America, and New Spain (Mexico) received its share through the ports of Veracruz where Africans were first brought and taken for work in the country's gold and silver mines, as servants, field workers and other labors. So numerous were Africans in New Spain that by 1570 the 20,569 Africans there were three times the Spanish population.
The Africans spread out through New Spain, including heading north and across the Rio Grande inter-marrying with indigenous people, running away from slavery (marronage) and starting their own communities. Some became the first black Texans.
This report examines how Africans first came to this part of the world, and includes these items:
- Esteban and his travels as the first black African in what would become Texas
- The African Diaspora and the Transatlantic slave trade
- The Royal African Trading Company
- Origins of the slave trade in Texas
- Elmina Castle: Slave holding post, "Door of no return"