Lets Explore Various African and African Diaspora History/culture VOL.1
- Thread starter cole phelps
- Start date
JasonSJackson
Jah Sun Ma'at Ra
Faught against by not only the British but also local c00nS who had the brits dikks up their asses
Anglo-Ashanti wars
The Anglo-Ashanti Wars were four conflicts between the Ashanti Empire, in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast, now Ghana, and the British Empire in the 19th century between 1824 and 1901. The ruler of the Ashanti (or Asante) was the Asantehene. The wars were mainly over the Ashanti establishing strong control over the coastal areas of what is now Ghana. Coastal peoples, such as the Fante and the inhabitants of Accra, who were chiefly Ga, came to rely on British protection against Ashanti incursions. The Ashanti impressively withstood the British in some of these wars but, in the end, the Ashanti Empire became a British protectorate.
Earlier wars
The British were drawn into three earlier wars:
In the Ashanti-Fante War of 1806-07, the British refused to hand over two rebels pursued by the Ashanti, but eventually handed one over (the other escaped).
In the Ga-Fante War of 1811, the Akwapim captured a British fort at Tantamkweri and a Dutch fort at Apam.
In the Ashanti-Akim-Akwapim War of 1814–16 the Ashanti defeated the Akim-Akwapim alliance. Local British, Dutch, and Danish authorities all had to come to terms with the Ashanti. In 1817, the (British) African Company of Merchants signed a treaty of friendship that recognized Ashanti claims to sovereignty over much of the coast
First Anglo-Ashanti War
The First Anglo-Ashanti War was from 1823 to 1831. In 1823, Sir Charles MacCarthy, rejecting Ashanti claims to Fanti areas of the coast and resisting overtures by the Ashanti to negotiate, led an invading force from the Cape Coast. He was defeated and killed by the Ashanti, and the heads of MacCarthy and Ensign Wetherall were kept as trophies. At the Battle of Nsamankow, MacCarthy's troops (who had not joined up with the other columns) were overrun. Major Alexander Gordon Laing returned to Britain with news of their fate.
The Ashanti swept down to the coast, but disease forced them back. The Ashanti were so successful in subsequent fighting that in 1826, they again moved on the coast. At first they fought very impressively in an open battle against superior numbers of British allied forces, including Denkyiras. However, the novelty of British Congreve rockets caused the Ashanti army to withdraw.[2] In 1831, the Pra River was accepted as the border in a treaty, and there were thirty years of peace.
Second Anglo-Ashanti War
The Second Anglo-Ashanti War was from 1863 to 1864. With the exception of a few minor Ashanti skirmishes across the Pra in 1853 and 1854, the peace between the Ashanti and the British Empire had remained unbroken for over 30 years. Then, in 1863, a large Ashanti delegation crossed the river pursuing a fugitive, Kwesi Gyana. There was fighting, with casualties on both sides, but the governor's request for troops from England was declined and sickness forced the withdrawal of his troops.
Third Anglo-Ashanti War
The Third Anglo-Ashanti War lasted from 1873 to 1874. In 1869, a German missionary family and a Swiss missionary had been taken to Kumasi. They were hospitably treated, but a ransom was required for them. In 1871, Britain purchased the Dutch Gold Coast from the Dutch, including Elmina which was claimed by the Ashanti. The Ashanti invaded the new British protectorate.
General Garnet Wolseley with 2,500 British troops and several thousand West Indian and African troops (including some Fante) was sent against the Ashanti, and subsequently became a household name in Britain. The war was covered by war correspondents, including Henry Morton Stanley and G. A. Henty. Military and medical instructions were printed for the troops.[3] The British government refused appeals to interfere with British armaments manufacturers who sold to both sides.[4]
Wolseley went to the Gold Coast in 1873 and made his plans before the arrival of his troops in January 1874. He fought the Battle of Amoaful on January 31 of that year, and, after five days' fighting, ended with the Battle of Ordashu. The capital, Kumasi, was abandoned by the Ashanti and was briefly occupied by the British and burned. The British were impressed by the size of the palace and the scope of its contents, including "rows of books in many languages."[5][6] The Asantahene, the ruler of the Ashanti signed a harsh British treaty, the Treaty of Fomena in July 1874, to end the war. Among articles of the treaty between H.M. Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and H.M. Kofi Karikari, King of Ashanti were that "The King of Ashanti promises to pay the sum of 50,000 ounces of approved gold as indemnity for the expenses he has occasioned to Her Majesty the Queen of England by the late war..." The treaty also stated that "There shall be freedom of trade between Ashanti and Her Majesty's forts on the [Gold] Coast, all persons being at liberty to carry their merchandise from the Coast to Kumasi, or from that place to any of Her Majesty's possessions on the Coast." Furthermore, the treaty stated that "The King of Ashanti guarantees that the road from Kumasi to the River Pra shall always be kept open..." [7] Wolseley completed the campaign in two months, and re-embarked then for home before the unhealthy season began. There were 300 British casualties.
Some British accounts pay tribute to the hard fighting of the Ashanti at Amoaful, particularly the tactical insight of their commander, Amanquatia: "The great Chief Amanquatia was among the killed [...] Admirable skill was shown in the position selected by Amanquatia, and the determination and generalship he displayed in the defence fully bore out his great reputation as an able tactician and gallant soldier."[8]
The campaign is also notable for the first recorded instance of a traction engine being employed on active service. Steam sapper number 8 (made by Aveling and Porter) was shipped out and assembled at Cape Coast Castle. As a traction engine it had limited success but gave good service when employed as a stationary engine driving a large circular saw.[
JasonSJackson
Jah Sun Ma'at Ra
take note of who's point of view these stories are coming from. If we were to hear the Ashanti's version of things im sure they would be much differentContinuing....
Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War
Map from 1896 of the British Gold Coast Colony showing Ashanti
The Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War was brief, lasting only from December 1895 to February 1896. The Ashanti turned down an unofficial offer to become a British protectorate in 1891, extending to 1894. Wanting to keep French and German forces out of Ashanti territory (and its gold), the British were anxious to conquer the Ashanti once and for all. The war started on the pretext of failure to pay the fines levied on the Ashanti monarch by the Treaty of Fomena after the 1874 war.
Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with the main expeditionary force of British and West Indian troops in December 1895, and arrived in Kumasi in January 1896. The Asantehene directed the Ashanti not to resist, but casualties from sickness among the British troops were high.[10] Among the dead was Queen Victoria's son-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenberg. Robert Baden-Powell led a native levy of several local tribes in the campaign. Soon, Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was arrested and deposed. He was forced to sign a treaty of protection, and with other Ashanti leaders was sent into exile in the Seychelles.
War of the Golden Stool
In the War of the Golden Stool (1900), the remaining Ashanti court not exiled to the Seychelles mounted an offensive against the British and Fanti troops resident at the Kumasi Fort, but were defeated. Yaa Asantewaa, the Queen-Mother of Ejisu and other Ashanti leaders were also sent to the Seychelles. The Ashanti territories became part of the Gold Coast colony on 1 January 1902.
cole phelps
Superstar
Time to revive this thread
Afro-Mexicans are an ethnic group which exists in certain parts of Mexico such as the Costa Chica of Oaxaca and Guerrero, Veracruz and in some towns in northern Mexico. The existence of blacks in Mexico is unknown, denied or diminished in both Mexico and abroad for a number of reasons: their small numbers, heavy intermarriage with other ethnic groups and Mexico’s tradition of defining itself as a “mestizaje” or mixing of European and indigenous. Mexico did have an active slave trade since the early colonial period but from the beginning, intermarriage and mixed race offspring created an elaborate caste system. This system broke down in the very late colonial period and after Independence the legal notion of race was eliminated. The creation of a national Mexican identity, especially after the Mexican Revolution, emphasized Mexico’s indigenous and European past actively or passively eliminating its African one from popular consciousness.
Origins
Although the vast majority had their roots in Africa, not all made the trip directly to America, some came from other Hispanic territories elsewhere at the time. Those from Africa belonged mainly to groups Sudan and Bantu.
The origin of the slaves is known through various documents such as letters of sale. Originally the slaves came from the islands of Cape Verde and rivers Guinea[3] later also were extracted from Angola and Canary Islands.[4]
To decide the sex of the slaves that would be send to the New World, had calculations that included physical performance and reproduction been performed. at first half of the slaves imported were women and the other half men, but it was later realized that men could work longer without fatigue and that yielded similarly throughout the month, unlike women suffering from pains and diseases more easily.[4] On the end, only one third of the total slaves were women. From the African continent were extracted dark skinned slaves "the first true blacks were extracted from Arguin."[5] Later, in the sixteenth century black slaves came from Bran, biafadas and Gelofe (this is of Cape Verde). Blacks slaves were classified into several types, depending on their abundance, origin and mostly physical characteristics. Abounded especially two. The first, called Retintos, also called swarthy, came from Sudan and the Guinea Coast. The second type were amulatados or amembrillados of lighter skin color, when compared with other blacks were indistinguishable in their skin yellow hues
Afro-Mexicans are an ethnic group which exists in certain parts of Mexico such as the Costa Chica of Oaxaca and Guerrero, Veracruz and in some towns in northern Mexico. The existence of blacks in Mexico is unknown, denied or diminished in both Mexico and abroad for a number of reasons: their small numbers, heavy intermarriage with other ethnic groups and Mexico’s tradition of defining itself as a “mestizaje” or mixing of European and indigenous. Mexico did have an active slave trade since the early colonial period but from the beginning, intermarriage and mixed race offspring created an elaborate caste system. This system broke down in the very late colonial period and after Independence the legal notion of race was eliminated. The creation of a national Mexican identity, especially after the Mexican Revolution, emphasized Mexico’s indigenous and European past actively or passively eliminating its African one from popular consciousness.
Origins
Although the vast majority had their roots in Africa, not all made the trip directly to America, some came from other Hispanic territories elsewhere at the time. Those from Africa belonged mainly to groups Sudan and Bantu.
The origin of the slaves is known through various documents such as letters of sale. Originally the slaves came from the islands of Cape Verde and rivers Guinea[3] later also were extracted from Angola and Canary Islands.[4]
To decide the sex of the slaves that would be send to the New World, had calculations that included physical performance and reproduction been performed. at first half of the slaves imported were women and the other half men, but it was later realized that men could work longer without fatigue and that yielded similarly throughout the month, unlike women suffering from pains and diseases more easily.[4] On the end, only one third of the total slaves were women. From the African continent were extracted dark skinned slaves "the first true blacks were extracted from Arguin."[5] Later, in the sixteenth century black slaves came from Bran, biafadas and Gelofe (this is of Cape Verde). Blacks slaves were classified into several types, depending on their abundance, origin and mostly physical characteristics. Abounded especially two. The first, called Retintos, also called swarthy, came from Sudan and the Guinea Coast. The second type were amulatados or amembrillados of lighter skin color, when compared with other blacks were indistinguishable in their skin yellow hues
cole phelps
Superstar
African slavery in Mexico
There is an assumption that there was not much African slavery in Mexico since there are now so few people of obvious black ancestry. However, this is not the case.[7]
Mexican anthropologist Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán estimated that there were six blacks who took part in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The first African slave brought to Mexico is said to be Juan Cortés, a slave who accompanied Hernán Cortés in 1519. Another conquistador, Pánfilo de Narváez, brought an African slave who has been blamed for the smallpox epidemic of 1520. Early slaves were likely personal servants or concubines of their Spanish masters, who had been brought to Spain first and came with the conquistadors.[7][8]
Mexico never became a slave based economy but slavery did fill important niches in the colonial period. While a number of indigenous were enslaved during the conquest, slaves during the rest of the colonial period were either black or mulatto (black/European). The demand for slaves came in the early colonial period, especially between 1580 to 1640, when the indigenous population quickly declined.[9] Carlos V began to issue an increasing number of contracts between the Spanish Crown and private slavers specifically to bring Africans to Spanish colonies. These slavers in turn made deals with the Portuguese, who controlled the African slave market.[7] Mexico was an important slave port in the New World, harboring slaves brought by Spanish before they were sent to other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.[10]
Important economic sectors such as sugar production and mining relied heavily on slave labor during that time.[9] After 1640, slave labor became less important but the reasons are not clear. One factor was that the Spanish Crown cut off contacts with Portuguese slave traders after Portugal gained its independence. It declined in mining as the high profit margins allowed the recruitment of wage labor. One other factor was that the indigenous and mestizo population rose, and with them the size of the free labor force.[9] In the later colonial period, most slaves continued to work in sugar production but also in textile mills, which were the two sectors that needed a large, stable workforce, which could not pay enough to attract free laborers to its arduous work. Slave labor would remain important to textile production until the latter 18th century when cheaper English textiles were imported.[9]
Other sector of slave labor was generally restricted to Mexico City, where they were domestic servants such as maids, coachmen, personal service or armed bodyguards. However, they were more of a status symbol rather than an economic necessity.[9]
Although integral to certain sectors of the economy through the mid-18th century, the number of slaves and the prices they fetched fell during the colonial period. Slave prices were highest from 1580 to 1640 at about 400 pesos. It decreased to about 350 pesos around 1650, staying constant until falling to about 175 pesos for an adult male in 1750. In the latter 18th century, mill slaves were phased out and replaced by indigenous, often indebted, labor. Slaves were nearly non-existent in the late colonial census of 1792.[9] While banned shortly after the beginning of the Mexican War of
Independence, the practice did not definitively end until 1829.[8]
Slave rebellions occurred in Mexico as in other parts of the Americas, with the first in Veracruz in 1537. Runaway slaves were called cimarrones, who mostly fled to the highlands between Veracruz and Puebla with a number making their way to the Costa Chica region in what are now Guerrero and Oaxaca .[8][11] Runaways in Veracruz formed settlements called “palenques” which would fight off Spanish authorities. The most famous of these was led by Gaspar Yanga, who fought the Spanish for forty years until the Spanish recognized their autonomy in 1608, making San Lorenzo de los Negros (today Yanga) the first community of free blacks in the Americas.[8][11]
From early in the colonial period, African and African descended people had offspring with people of European or indigenous races. This led to an elaborate caste system based on ethnic heritage. The offspring of mixed-race couples was divided into three general groups: mestizo for Spanish/indigenous, mulatto for Spanish/black and zambo or zambaigo for black/indigenous. However, there was overlap in these categories which recognized black mestizos. In addition, skin tone further divided the mestizo and mulatto categories. This loose system of classification became known as “las castas.” This did have problems. For example, those with African and indigenous heritage would hide the African as indigenous had a somewhat higher status at points in colonial history. Slaves with indigenous blood would be branded to prevent this. Free persons of African blood would hide such to avoid paying head taxes, not imposed on the indigenous. Las castas paintings were produced during the 18th centuries, commissioned by the wealthy to reflect Mexican society at that time. They portray the three races, European, indigenous and African and their complicated mixing. They are based on family groups, with parents and children labeled according to their caste. They have 16 squares in a hierarchy with the most European at the top. Indigenous and black women may appear at the top if they mix with European, but similar men never do. There is evidence that those of African heritage were classed as inferior to the indigenous, such as the idea that African heritage could not be “cleansed” in future generations. Also, as the formal caste system began to erode, those classed as “castizo” (Spanish/mestizo) were considered white, but moriscos (light-skinned offspring of Spanish and mulattos) were considered mulattos.[8]
There is an assumption that there was not much African slavery in Mexico since there are now so few people of obvious black ancestry. However, this is not the case.[7]
Mexican anthropologist Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán estimated that there were six blacks who took part in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The first African slave brought to Mexico is said to be Juan Cortés, a slave who accompanied Hernán Cortés in 1519. Another conquistador, Pánfilo de Narváez, brought an African slave who has been blamed for the smallpox epidemic of 1520. Early slaves were likely personal servants or concubines of their Spanish masters, who had been brought to Spain first and came with the conquistadors.[7][8]
Mexico never became a slave based economy but slavery did fill important niches in the colonial period. While a number of indigenous were enslaved during the conquest, slaves during the rest of the colonial period were either black or mulatto (black/European). The demand for slaves came in the early colonial period, especially between 1580 to 1640, when the indigenous population quickly declined.[9] Carlos V began to issue an increasing number of contracts between the Spanish Crown and private slavers specifically to bring Africans to Spanish colonies. These slavers in turn made deals with the Portuguese, who controlled the African slave market.[7] Mexico was an important slave port in the New World, harboring slaves brought by Spanish before they were sent to other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.[10]
Important economic sectors such as sugar production and mining relied heavily on slave labor during that time.[9] After 1640, slave labor became less important but the reasons are not clear. One factor was that the Spanish Crown cut off contacts with Portuguese slave traders after Portugal gained its independence. It declined in mining as the high profit margins allowed the recruitment of wage labor. One other factor was that the indigenous and mestizo population rose, and with them the size of the free labor force.[9] In the later colonial period, most slaves continued to work in sugar production but also in textile mills, which were the two sectors that needed a large, stable workforce, which could not pay enough to attract free laborers to its arduous work. Slave labor would remain important to textile production until the latter 18th century when cheaper English textiles were imported.[9]
Other sector of slave labor was generally restricted to Mexico City, where they were domestic servants such as maids, coachmen, personal service or armed bodyguards. However, they were more of a status symbol rather than an economic necessity.[9]
Although integral to certain sectors of the economy through the mid-18th century, the number of slaves and the prices they fetched fell during the colonial period. Slave prices were highest from 1580 to 1640 at about 400 pesos. It decreased to about 350 pesos around 1650, staying constant until falling to about 175 pesos for an adult male in 1750. In the latter 18th century, mill slaves were phased out and replaced by indigenous, often indebted, labor. Slaves were nearly non-existent in the late colonial census of 1792.[9] While banned shortly after the beginning of the Mexican War of
Independence, the practice did not definitively end until 1829.[8]
Slave rebellions occurred in Mexico as in other parts of the Americas, with the first in Veracruz in 1537. Runaway slaves were called cimarrones, who mostly fled to the highlands between Veracruz and Puebla with a number making their way to the Costa Chica region in what are now Guerrero and Oaxaca .[8][11] Runaways in Veracruz formed settlements called “palenques” which would fight off Spanish authorities. The most famous of these was led by Gaspar Yanga, who fought the Spanish for forty years until the Spanish recognized their autonomy in 1608, making San Lorenzo de los Negros (today Yanga) the first community of free blacks in the Americas.[8][11]
From early in the colonial period, African and African descended people had offspring with people of European or indigenous races. This led to an elaborate caste system based on ethnic heritage. The offspring of mixed-race couples was divided into three general groups: mestizo for Spanish/indigenous, mulatto for Spanish/black and zambo or zambaigo for black/indigenous. However, there was overlap in these categories which recognized black mestizos. In addition, skin tone further divided the mestizo and mulatto categories. This loose system of classification became known as “las castas.” This did have problems. For example, those with African and indigenous heritage would hide the African as indigenous had a somewhat higher status at points in colonial history. Slaves with indigenous blood would be branded to prevent this. Free persons of African blood would hide such to avoid paying head taxes, not imposed on the indigenous. Las castas paintings were produced during the 18th centuries, commissioned by the wealthy to reflect Mexican society at that time. They portray the three races, European, indigenous and African and their complicated mixing. They are based on family groups, with parents and children labeled according to their caste. They have 16 squares in a hierarchy with the most European at the top. Indigenous and black women may appear at the top if they mix with European, but similar men never do. There is evidence that those of African heritage were classed as inferior to the indigenous, such as the idea that African heritage could not be “cleansed” in future generations. Also, as the formal caste system began to erode, those classed as “castizo” (Spanish/mestizo) were considered white, but moriscos (light-skinned offspring of Spanish and mulattos) were considered mulattos.[8]
cole phelps
Superstar
Afro-Mexican population in Veracruz
Like the Costa Chica, the state of Veracruz has a number of pueblos negros, notably the African named towns of Mandinga, Matamba, Mozambique and Mozomboa as well as Chacalapa, Coyolillo, Yanga and Tamiahua .[14][15][18] The town of Mandinga, about forty five minutes south of Veracruz city, is particularly known for the restaurants that line its main street.[15] Coyolillo hosts an annual Carnival with Afro-Caribbean dance and other African elements.[19]
However, tribal and family group were separated and dispersed to a greater extent around the sugar cane growing areas in Veracruz. This had the effect of intermarriage and the loss or absorption of most elements of African culture in a few generations.[15][20] This intermarriage means that while Veracruz remains “blackest” in Mexico’s popular imagination, those with black skin are mistaken for those from the Caribbean and/or not “truly Mexican.”[10]
The phenomena of runaways and slave rebellions began early in Veracruz with many escaping to the mountainous areas in the west of the state, near Orizaba and the Puebla border. Here groups of escaped slaves established defiant communities called “palenques” to resist Spanish authorities.[11][21] The most important Palenque was established in 1570 by Gaspar Yanga and stood against the Spanish for about forty years until the Spanish were forced to recognize it as a free community in 1609, with the name of San Lorenzo de los Negros. It was renamed Yanga in 1932.[11][22] Yanga was the first municipality of freed slaves in the Americas. However, the town proper has almost no people of obvious African heritage. These live in the smaller, more rural communities.[22]
Because African descendents dispersed widely into the general population, African and Afro-Cuban influence can be seen in Veracruz’s music dance, improvised poetry, magical practices and especially food.[15][18][20] Veracruz son music, best known through the popularity of the hit “La Bamba” has African origins.[11] Veracruz cooking commonly contains Spanish, indigenous and African ingredients and cooking techniques.[15] One defining African influence is the use of peanuts. Even though peanuts are native to the Americas, there is little evidence of their widespread use in the pre Hispanic period. Peanuts were brought to Africa by the Europeans and the Africans adopted them, using them in stews, sauces and many other dishes. The slaves that came later would bring this new cooking with the legume to Mexico.[15] They can be found in regional dishes such as encacahuatado, an alcoholic drink called the torito, candies (especially in Tlacotalpan), salsa macha and even in mole poblano from the neighboring state of Puebla.[20] This influence can be seen as far west as Puebla, where peanuts are an ingredient in mole poblano.[15] Another important ingredient introduced by African cooking is the plantain, which came from Africa via the Canary Islands. In Veracruz, they are heavily used breads, empanadas, desserts, mole, barbacoa and much more. One other defining ingredient in Veracruz cooking is the use of starchy tropical roots, called viandas. They include cassava, malanga, taro and sweet potatoes
Like the Costa Chica, the state of Veracruz has a number of pueblos negros, notably the African named towns of Mandinga, Matamba, Mozambique and Mozomboa as well as Chacalapa, Coyolillo, Yanga and Tamiahua .[14][15][18] The town of Mandinga, about forty five minutes south of Veracruz city, is particularly known for the restaurants that line its main street.[15] Coyolillo hosts an annual Carnival with Afro-Caribbean dance and other African elements.[19]
However, tribal and family group were separated and dispersed to a greater extent around the sugar cane growing areas in Veracruz. This had the effect of intermarriage and the loss or absorption of most elements of African culture in a few generations.[15][20] This intermarriage means that while Veracruz remains “blackest” in Mexico’s popular imagination, those with black skin are mistaken for those from the Caribbean and/or not “truly Mexican.”[10]
The phenomena of runaways and slave rebellions began early in Veracruz with many escaping to the mountainous areas in the west of the state, near Orizaba and the Puebla border. Here groups of escaped slaves established defiant communities called “palenques” to resist Spanish authorities.[11][21] The most important Palenque was established in 1570 by Gaspar Yanga and stood against the Spanish for about forty years until the Spanish were forced to recognize it as a free community in 1609, with the name of San Lorenzo de los Negros. It was renamed Yanga in 1932.[11][22] Yanga was the first municipality of freed slaves in the Americas. However, the town proper has almost no people of obvious African heritage. These live in the smaller, more rural communities.[22]
Because African descendents dispersed widely into the general population, African and Afro-Cuban influence can be seen in Veracruz’s music dance, improvised poetry, magical practices and especially food.[15][18][20] Veracruz son music, best known through the popularity of the hit “La Bamba” has African origins.[11] Veracruz cooking commonly contains Spanish, indigenous and African ingredients and cooking techniques.[15] One defining African influence is the use of peanuts. Even though peanuts are native to the Americas, there is little evidence of their widespread use in the pre Hispanic period. Peanuts were brought to Africa by the Europeans and the Africans adopted them, using them in stews, sauces and many other dishes. The slaves that came later would bring this new cooking with the legume to Mexico.[15] They can be found in regional dishes such as encacahuatado, an alcoholic drink called the torito, candies (especially in Tlacotalpan), salsa macha and even in mole poblano from the neighboring state of Puebla.[20] This influence can be seen as far west as Puebla, where peanuts are an ingredient in mole poblano.[15] Another important ingredient introduced by African cooking is the plantain, which came from Africa via the Canary Islands. In Veracruz, they are heavily used breads, empanadas, desserts, mole, barbacoa and much more. One other defining ingredient in Veracruz cooking is the use of starchy tropical roots, called viandas. They include cassava, malanga, taro and sweet potatoes
cole phelps
Superstar
Afro-Mexican population in northern Mexico
There are some towns with few blacks in them, far north of Mexico, especially in Coahuila and the country’s border with Texas. Some ex slaves and free blacks came into northern Mexico in the 19th century from the United States.[10] One particular group was the Mascogos, which consisted of runaway slaves and free blacks from Florida, along with Seminoles and Kickapoos. Many of these settled in and around the town of El Nacimiento, Coahuila, where their descendents remain.[11]
There are some towns with few blacks in them, far north of Mexico, especially in Coahuila and the country’s border with Texas. Some ex slaves and free blacks came into northern Mexico in the 19th century from the United States.[10] One particular group was the Mascogos, which consisted of runaway slaves and free blacks from Florida, along with Seminoles and Kickapoos. Many of these settled in and around the town of El Nacimiento, Coahuila, where their descendents remain.[11]
cole phelps
Superstar
Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. (March 4, 1877 – July 27, 1963) was an African American inventor and community leader. His most notable inventions included a type of protective respiratory hood (or gas mask), a traffic signal, and a hair-straightening preparation. He is renowned for a heroic rescue in 1916 in which he and three others used his safety hood device to save workers trapped in a water intake tunnel being dug under Lake Erie after a natural gas explosion and fire which took the lives of workers and the first police officers and firefighters who attempted to rescue them. He is also credited as the first African American in Cleveland, Ohio, to own an automobile.[1]
Biography
Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky to Sydney, a former slave and son of Confederate Colonel John H. Morgan, and Eliza Reed, also a former slave[2] who was half American Indian.[1] Morgan moved at the age of fourteen to Cincinnati, Ohio in search of employment. Most of his teenage years were spent working as a handyman for a wealthy Cincinnati landowner. Like many African Americans of his day, he had to quit school at a young age in order to work. However, the teen-aged Morgan was able to hire his own tutor and continued his studies while living in Cincinnati. In 1895, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked repairing sewing machines for a clothing manufacturer. His first invention, developed during this period, was a belt fastener for sewing machines.[3] He married his first wife, Madge Nelson, in 1896, but that marriage ended in divorce. Word of his skill at fixing things and experimenting spread quickly throughout Cleveland, opening up various opportunities for him.
In 1907, Morgan opened his own sewing machine and shoe repair shop. It was the first of several businesses he would own. In 1908, Morgan helped found the Cleveland Association of Colored Men.[4][5] That same year, he married his second wife, Mary Anne Hassek, and together they had three sons. In 1909, he and his wife expanded their business ventures by opening a shop called Morgan's Cut Rate Ladies Clothing Store.[6] The company had 32 employees, and made coats, suits, dresses, and other clothing.[5]
A few years later, he developed his safety hood invention. He filed for a patent on it in 1912, and launched the National Safety Device Company in 1914. At around the same time, in 1913, he launched the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company, which sold hair care products, including a hair straightening cream, a hair dye, and a hair straightening comb invented by Morgan.
His safety hood invention led him to nation-wide fame and a much higher level of commercial success. The hair care company was also successful enough to become a long-lasting established business.[3]
He then went on to develop his traffic control signal, for which he filed for a patent in 1922.
He developed glaucoma in 1943, and was functionally blind and in poor health in his later life.[7][8]
Morgan died on July 27, 1963,[2][8][9] at the age of 86, and is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.[2]
cole phelps
Superstar
continued
Products and inventions
Hair care products
Morgan experimented with a liquid that gave sewing machine needles a high polish and prevented the needle from scorching fabric as it sewed. In 1905, Morgan accidentally discovered that the liquid could also straighten hair.[5] He made the liquid into a cream and launched the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company to market it. He also made a black hair oil dye and invented a curved-tooth comb for hair straightening in 1910
Safety hood
Garrett Morgan invented a safety hood smoke protection device after seeing firefighters struggling from the smoke they encountered in the line of duty.[1] His device used a wet sponge to filter out smoke and cool the air.[10] It also took advantage of the way smoke and fumes tend to rise to higher positions while leaving a layer of more breathable air below, by using an air intake tube that dangled near the floor.[7] He filed for a patent on the device in 1912,[7] and founded a company called the National Safety Device Company in 1914 to market it. He was able to sell his invention around the country, sometimes using the tactic of having a hired white actor take credit rather than revealing himself as its inventor.[1] For demonstrations of the device, he sometimes adopted the disguise of "Big Chief Mason", a purported full-blooded Indian from the Walpole Island Indian Reserve in Canada.[11] He would demonstrate the device by building a noxious fire fueled by tar, sulphur, formaldehyde and manure inside an enclosed tent.[7] Disguised as Big Chief Mason, he would enter the tent full of black smoke, and would remain there for 20 minutes before emerging unharmed.[7]
His safety hood device was simple and effective, whereas the other proto-"gas mask" type devices in use at the time were generally difficult to put on, excessively complex, unreliable, or ineffective.[7] His safety hood was used to save many lives during the period of its use.[7]
He also developed later models that incorporated an air bag that could hold about 15 minutes of fresh air.[7][8]
His invention became known nationally when he led a rescue that saved several men's lives after a 1916 tunnel explosion under Lake Erie.[7][10][12] Before Morgan arrived, two previous rescue attempts had failed. The attempted rescuers had become victims themselves by entering the tunnel and not returning. Morgan was roused in the middle of the night after one of the members of the rescue team who had seen a demonstration of his device sent a messenger to convince him to come and to bring as many of his hoods as he could.[7] He arrived on the scene still wearing his pajamas, and brought his brother Frank and four of the hoods with him.[7][8][10] Most of the rescuers on the scene were initially skeptical of his device, so he and his brother personally went into the tunnel along with two other volunteers, and succeeded in pulling out two men from the previous rescue attempts.[7][10] He emerged carrying a victim on his back, and his brother followed just behind with another.[8] Others joined in after his team succeeded, and rescued several more.[7] His device was also used to retrieve the bodies of the victims that did not survive. Morgan personally made four trips into the tunnel during the rescue, and his health was affected for years afterward from the fumes he encountered there.[7] Cleveland's newspapers and city officials initially ignored Morgan's act of heroism as the first to rush into the tunnel for the rescue and his key role as the provider of the equipment that made the rescue possible, and it took years for the city to recognize his contributions.[1][7] City officials requested the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission to issue medals to several of the men involved in the rescue, but excluded Morgan from their request.[7] He believed that the omission was racially motivated.[7] Later, in 1917, a group citizens of Cleveland tried to correct for the omission by presenting him with a diamond-studded gold medal.[7]
He was also given a medal from the International Association of Fire Engineers, which made him an honorary member.[8]
Morgan's invention of the safety hood was featured on the television show Inventions that Shook the World.[13]
Products and inventions
Hair care products
Morgan experimented with a liquid that gave sewing machine needles a high polish and prevented the needle from scorching fabric as it sewed. In 1905, Morgan accidentally discovered that the liquid could also straighten hair.[5] He made the liquid into a cream and launched the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company to market it. He also made a black hair oil dye and invented a curved-tooth comb for hair straightening in 1910
Safety hood
Garrett Morgan invented a safety hood smoke protection device after seeing firefighters struggling from the smoke they encountered in the line of duty.[1] His device used a wet sponge to filter out smoke and cool the air.[10] It also took advantage of the way smoke and fumes tend to rise to higher positions while leaving a layer of more breathable air below, by using an air intake tube that dangled near the floor.[7] He filed for a patent on the device in 1912,[7] and founded a company called the National Safety Device Company in 1914 to market it. He was able to sell his invention around the country, sometimes using the tactic of having a hired white actor take credit rather than revealing himself as its inventor.[1] For demonstrations of the device, he sometimes adopted the disguise of "Big Chief Mason", a purported full-blooded Indian from the Walpole Island Indian Reserve in Canada.[11] He would demonstrate the device by building a noxious fire fueled by tar, sulphur, formaldehyde and manure inside an enclosed tent.[7] Disguised as Big Chief Mason, he would enter the tent full of black smoke, and would remain there for 20 minutes before emerging unharmed.[7]
His safety hood device was simple and effective, whereas the other proto-"gas mask" type devices in use at the time were generally difficult to put on, excessively complex, unreliable, or ineffective.[7] His safety hood was used to save many lives during the period of its use.[7]
He also developed later models that incorporated an air bag that could hold about 15 minutes of fresh air.[7][8]
His invention became known nationally when he led a rescue that saved several men's lives after a 1916 tunnel explosion under Lake Erie.[7][10][12] Before Morgan arrived, two previous rescue attempts had failed. The attempted rescuers had become victims themselves by entering the tunnel and not returning. Morgan was roused in the middle of the night after one of the members of the rescue team who had seen a demonstration of his device sent a messenger to convince him to come and to bring as many of his hoods as he could.[7] He arrived on the scene still wearing his pajamas, and brought his brother Frank and four of the hoods with him.[7][8][10] Most of the rescuers on the scene were initially skeptical of his device, so he and his brother personally went into the tunnel along with two other volunteers, and succeeded in pulling out two men from the previous rescue attempts.[7][10] He emerged carrying a victim on his back, and his brother followed just behind with another.[8] Others joined in after his team succeeded, and rescued several more.[7] His device was also used to retrieve the bodies of the victims that did not survive. Morgan personally made four trips into the tunnel during the rescue, and his health was affected for years afterward from the fumes he encountered there.[7] Cleveland's newspapers and city officials initially ignored Morgan's act of heroism as the first to rush into the tunnel for the rescue and his key role as the provider of the equipment that made the rescue possible, and it took years for the city to recognize his contributions.[1][7] City officials requested the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission to issue medals to several of the men involved in the rescue, but excluded Morgan from their request.[7] He believed that the omission was racially motivated.[7] Later, in 1917, a group citizens of Cleveland tried to correct for the omission by presenting him with a diamond-studded gold medal.[7]
He was also given a medal from the International Association of Fire Engineers, which made him an honorary member.[8]
Morgan's invention of the safety hood was featured on the television show Inventions that Shook the World.[13]
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Traffic signal
Patent drawing of Morgan's signal
The first American-made automobiles were introduced to consumers just before the turn of the 20th century, and pedestrians, bicycles, animal-drawn wagons and motor vehicles all had to share the same roads. To deal with the growing problem of traffic accidents, a number of versions of traffic signaling devices began to be developed, starting around 1913.
Morgan had witnessed a serious accident at an intersection, and he invented a traffic control device and applied for a patent on it in 1922.[7] His invention was a hand-cranked mechanical sign system using signs that could be switched relatively easily by a traffic control officer.[7] His device was relatively simple, yet had key additional safety features that many others at the time did not have. In addition to having "stop" and "go" indicators, it had an "all stop" signal that could be used to clear the intersection to allow pedestrians to cross or to stop cross-traffic before signaling a different direction to proceed. It also had a "half mast" warning position to indicate general caution at times when the device operator was not present.[7] In addition to the signs, his device featured lights and warning bells powered by a battery or a connection to a main power source.[7]
Patent drawing of Morgan's signal
The first American-made automobiles were introduced to consumers just before the turn of the 20th century, and pedestrians, bicycles, animal-drawn wagons and motor vehicles all had to share the same roads. To deal with the growing problem of traffic accidents, a number of versions of traffic signaling devices began to be developed, starting around 1913.
Morgan had witnessed a serious accident at an intersection, and he invented a traffic control device and applied for a patent on it in 1922.[7] His invention was a hand-cranked mechanical sign system using signs that could be switched relatively easily by a traffic control officer.[7] His device was relatively simple, yet had key additional safety features that many others at the time did not have. In addition to having "stop" and "go" indicators, it had an "all stop" signal that could be used to clear the intersection to allow pedestrians to cross or to stop cross-traffic before signaling a different direction to proceed. It also had a "half mast" warning position to indicate general caution at times when the device operator was not present.[7] In addition to the signs, his device featured lights and warning bells powered by a battery or a connection to a main power source.[7]
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Community leadership
In 1910, he helped found the Cleveland Association of Colored Men, a group founded to help improve economic and social conditions for the black community (which later merged with the NAACP).[4][5][8] He also served as its treasurer.[8]
In 1916 he helped to found the Cleveland Call newspaper, and subsequently participated in its 1928 merger that created the Call and Post newspaper.[14]
Morgan was a member of the Prince Hall Freemason fraternal organization, a predominantly black Freemason group (Excelsior Lodge No. 11 of Cleveland, Ohio).[15]
In 1920, he helped found an all-black country club.[1]
He was a member of the NAACP and donated money to Negro colleges.[1]
In 1931, motivated by his view that the city was not properly addressing the needs of the black community, he (unsuccessfully) ran for a seat on the Cleveland City Council as an independent candidate.[3][7]
Awards and recognitions
Grave of Garrett A. Morgan
At the Emancipation Centennial Celebration in Chicago, Illinois, in August 1963, Morgan was nationally recognized.[citation needed] Although in ill-health, and nearly blind, he continued to work on his inventions; one of his last was a self-extinguishing cigarette, which employed a small plastic pellet filled with water, placed just before the filter.
In the Cleveland, Ohio area, the Garrett A. Morgan Cleveland School of Science and the Garret A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant have been named in his honor. An elementary school in Chicago, Illinois was also named after him.[16] In Prince George's County, Maryland, there is a street named Garrett A. Morgan Boulevard in his honor (formerly Summerfield Boulevard until 2002).
Morgan was included in the 2002 book 100 Greatest African Americans by Molefi Kete Asante.[17]
Morgan was an honorary member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[18]
Community leadership
In 1910, he helped found the Cleveland Association of Colored Men, a group founded to help improve economic and social conditions for the black community (which later merged with the NAACP).[4][5][8] He also served as its treasurer.[8]
In 1916 he helped to found the Cleveland Call newspaper, and subsequently participated in its 1928 merger that created the Call and Post newspaper.[14]
Morgan was a member of the Prince Hall Freemason fraternal organization, a predominantly black Freemason group (Excelsior Lodge No. 11 of Cleveland, Ohio).[15]
In 1920, he helped found an all-black country club.[1]
He was a member of the NAACP and donated money to Negro colleges.[1]
In 1931, motivated by his view that the city was not properly addressing the needs of the black community, he (unsuccessfully) ran for a seat on the Cleveland City Council as an independent candidate.[3][7]
Awards and recognitions
Grave of Garrett A. Morgan
At the Emancipation Centennial Celebration in Chicago, Illinois, in August 1963, Morgan was nationally recognized.[citation needed] Although in ill-health, and nearly blind, he continued to work on his inventions; one of his last was a self-extinguishing cigarette, which employed a small plastic pellet filled with water, placed just before the filter.
In the Cleveland, Ohio area, the Garrett A. Morgan Cleveland School of Science and the Garret A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant have been named in his honor. An elementary school in Chicago, Illinois was also named after him.[16] In Prince George's County, Maryland, there is a street named Garrett A. Morgan Boulevard in his honor (formerly Summerfield Boulevard until 2002).
Morgan was included in the 2002 book 100 Greatest African Americans by Molefi Kete Asante.[17]
Morgan was an honorary member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[18]
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Superstar
Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer (July 12, 1854 – March 5, 1933) was an Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. He was a "close collaborator of [José] Martí's,"[1] and alongside him helped plan the uprising and unite the island's black population behind the rebellion. He was an activist for independence and a journalist who worked on and later founded several pivotal anti-royalist and pro-racial equality newspapers. He authored numerous works on liberty and racial justice in Latin America as well.
In his later years, he was a "journalist-politician."[2] He defended the revolution against racism and U.S. imperialism and upheld Martí's legacy in print (often under the pseudonym "G") as he served the Cuban state; he was a part of the Committee of Consultations that drafted and amended the Constitution of 1901, and was a representative and senator in the Cuban legislature. He is best remembered as "the most conspicuous"[1] Afro-Cuban activist leader of the 1890s independence struggle and "one of the revolution's great ideologues
Early life and travels
Gómez was born on the hacienda "Golden Fleece,"[4] a sugar plantation owned by Catalina Gómez. His parents, Fermin Gómez (Yeye) and Serafina Ferrer (Fina) were African slaves[5] but managed to buy the freedom of their child, Juan, before birth, in accordance to the law of the time. His status as a free man allowed him to learn to read and write. Because of his literacy skills, rare for Afro-Cubans growing up on plantations in this era of chattel slavery, his parents sent him to school at Our Lady of the Forsaken in Havana, despite the financial sacrifice it meant.[5]
In 1868, the Ten Years' War broke out. A climate of violence and intimidation prevailed, and after the young Gómez got caught up in a brawl between royalists and independence groups at Villanueva theater, his parents decided to send him to France—with financial help from plantation owner Catalina Gómez—to study the craft of building horse carriages, one of the few trades open to blacks and mestizos in the colonial period. His successes as an apprentice led him to study at engineering school.[5]
In July 1872, Francisco Vicente Aguilera and General Manuel de Quesada arrived in Paris to raise funds for Cuban independence. Needing a translator, Gómez was hired, making his first professional connection. But the political situation in France became more difficult, following the defeat of the Second French Empire in the Franco-Prussian War and subsequent violence of the proletarian "Paris Commune" amid the rocky founding of the Third French Republic, and soon he faced a difficult economic situation as well. In 1874, his parents experienced economic hardships and informed Gómez they couldn't continue to finance his stay in Paris and advised him to return to Cuba. Gómez, not wanting to return, found low-paying jobs at newspapers as a reporter. Eventually, he suspended his studies to work as a journalist in the Revue et Gazette des Theatres, which was the beginning of his journalistic career.[5]
Initially out of financial necessity, then political convictions, Gómez wrote news items and editorials, eventually engaging directly in politics. By 1877, his political personality was solidly formed as a journalist, debater, and public speaker. In 1878, he went to Mexico where he met the abolitionist Nicolas Azcarate, a Cuban exile,[5] and learned of the defeat of the independence forces in Cuba and the end of the Ten Years' War with the Pact of Zanjón. Given the new political situation, many exiles returned to Cuba and Gómez made the move home, going back to Havana in late 1878.[5]
