Gaspar Yanga -- Mexico

Gaspar Yanga was a leader of a slave rebellion in Mexico during the early period of Spanish colonial rule. Said to be of the Bran people and member of the royal family of Gabon, Yanga came to lead a band of slaves near Veracruz around 1570. Escaping into the difficult terrain of the highlands, he and his people built a small maroon colony, or palenque and remained there ror more than 35 years. The community grew, partially surviving by looting caravans bringing goods to Veracruz, however, in 1609 the Spanish colonial government decided to regain control of the territory and set an example to discourage other escaping slaves.

Led by Pedro González de Herrera, around 550 well armed Spanish troops set out from Puebla in January 1609, the maroons facing them were an irregular force of around 500 fighters most with primitive weapons such as stones, machetes, bows and arrows and some with firearms. Francisco de la Matosa, an Angolan, and Yanga who decided to employ his troops’ superior knowledge of the terrain to resist the Spaniards led the maroon troops.

His goal was to cause the Spanish enough pain to force them to negotiate, Yanga’s surprise victory over the Spanish increased the confidence of his fighters and frustrated the colonial government. After defeating other Spanish forces sent against them, Yanga offered to make peace but with eleven conditions, the most important being recognition of the freedom of all of the palenque’s residents prior to 1608.

Acknowledgment of the settlement as a legal entity which Yanga and his descendants would govern, and than no Spanish were allowed in the community. Yanga, in turn, promised to serve and pay tribute to the Spanish crown. In 1618, after years of negotiations, the town of San Lorenzo de Los Negros was officially recognised by Spanish authorities as a free black settlement. This town, in today's Veracruz province, is known under the name of Yanga its founder.