Spanish colonial authorities

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Organization Timeline

Miguel escapes forced labor at the Buría gold mines

📅 30 November 1552

Fundación Empresas Polar’s chronology dates an enslaved African man named Miguel’s escape from punishment at the San Felipe de Buría mines to 30 November 1552. Its account describes his flight as...

Enslaved people are forced ashore at La Guaira

📅 2 June 1590

Caracas cabildo minutes noted that Portuguese trader Rui Gómez Bravo, sailing with a licensed slave ship bound for Cartagena, was forced to disembark at La Guaira. The source does not establish a...

English forces seize Jamaica from Spain

📅 11 May 1655

The English conquest brought Jamaica into an expanding plantation empire. Enslaved Africans and Indigenous people were forced into labor under changing imperial rulers, while Spanish-speaking and...

Free Black man Francisco de Suñiga joins anti-smuggling action

📅 24 March 1683

Francisco de Suñiga, identified as a free moreno, accompanied the capture of Spanish smugglers in Choroní. The case concerned contraband that included dealings in enslaved Africans and foreigners. His...

Coro insurrection begins under José Leonardo Chirino

📅 10 May 1795

At the Macanillas estate in Curimagua, enslaved and free Afro-descendant and Indigenous people rose against colonial rule. The insurgents called for abolition of slavery, an end to alcabala...

Coro revolt meets renewed violence and colonial repression

📅 12 May 1795

After new outbreaks of violence on 12 May, colonial authorities intensified repression. The Coro revolt was defeated, but its demands for freedom, abolition of slavery, and the removal of burdensome...

Authorities uncover the Gual and España conspiracy

📅 13 July 1797

Spanish colonial authorities uncovered a republican conspiracy organized by Manuel Gual and José María España. Its participants included pardos, free people of African descent, and some enslaved...

Authorities capture a canoe carrying 13 fugitive enslaved people

📅 16 December 1807

At Puerto Cabello, officials documented the capture by the corsair La Constancia of a canoe and curiara carrying 13 fugitive Black enslaved people from Essequibo. The archive frames the event as...