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The history of Puerto Ricans of African descent begins with the immigration of African free men called ''libertos'', who accompanied the invading Spanish Conquistadors.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Afro-Puerto Rican )〕 The Spaniards enslaved the Taínos (the native inhabitants of the island), and many of them died as a result of Spaniards' oppressive colonization efforts. This presented a problem for Spain's royal government, which relied on slavery to staff their mining and fort-building operations. Spain's 'solution' was to import enslaved West Africans. As a result, the majority of the African peoples who entered Puerto Rico did so as a result of the forced migration of the Atlantic slave trade, coming from many different societies of the African continent. When the gold mines in Puerto Rico were declared depleted, the Spanish Crown no longer held Puerto Rico as a high colonial priority. It was used as a garrison to support naval vessels. Africans from British and French possessions in the Caribbean were encouraged to emigrate to Puerto Rico, thereby providing a population base to support the Puerto Rican garrison. The Spanish decree of 1789 allowed the slaves to earn or buy their freedom, however this did little to help their situation. The expansion of sugar cane plantations drove up demand for slaves and their population increased dramatically. Throughout the years, there were many slave revolts in the island. Slaves who were promised their freedom joined the 1868 uprising against Spanish colonial rule in what is known as the "Grito de Lares". On March 22, 1873, slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico. The contributions of ethnic Africans to the music, art, language, and heritage have been instrumental to Puerto Rican culture. ==First Africans in Puerto Rico== When Ponce de León and the Spaniards arrived on the island of "Borinken" (Puerto Rico), they were greeted by the Cacique Agüeybaná, the supreme leader of the peaceful Taíno tribes on the island. Agüeybaná helped to maintain the peace between the Taíno and the Spaniards. According to historian Ricardo Alegria, the first free black man to set foot on the island in 1509 was Juan Garrido, a conquistador who was part of Juan Ponce de León's entourage. Garrido was born on the West African coast, the son of an African king. In 1508, he joined Juan Ponce de León to explore Puerto Rico and prospect for gold. In 1511, he fought under Ponce de León to repress the Carib and the Taíno, who had joined forces in Puerto Rico in a great revolt against the Spaniards.〔(Aimery Caron. ''The First West African on St. Croix?'' ) University of the Virgin Islands, Retrieved May 9, 2008〕 Garrido went on to join Hernán Cortés in the Spanish conquest of Mexico.〔"Juan Garrido", ''Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African''; By Henry Louis Gates; Page 815; 1999 by Basic Civitas Books; ISBN 0-465-00071-1〕 Another free black man who accompanied de León was Pedro Mejías. Mejías married a Taíno woman chief (a cacica), by the name of Yuisa. Yuisa was baptized Luisa (hence the name of the town of Loíza), so that she could marry Mejías.〔〔 The peace between the Spanish and the Taíno was short-lived. The Spanish took advantage of the Taínos' good faith and enslaved them, forcing them to work in the gold mines and in the construction of forts. Many Taíno died, particularly due to epidemics of smallpox, to which they had no immunity. Other Taínos committed suicide or left the island after the failed Taíno revolt of 1511. Friar Bartolomé de las Casas, who had accompanied Ponce de León, was outraged at the Spanish treatment of the Taíno. In 1512 he protested at the council of Burgos at the Spanish Court. He fought for the freedom of the natives and was able to secure their rights. The Spanish colonists, fearing the loss of their labor force, also protested before the courts. They complained that they needed manpower to work in the mines, build forts, and supply labor for the thriving sugar cane plantations. As an alternative, Las Casas suggested the importation and use of African slaves. In 1517, the Spanish Crown permitted its subjects to import twelve slaves each, thereby beginning the slave trade in their colonies. According to historian Luis M. Diaz, the largest contingent of African slaves came from the areas of the present-day Gold Coast, Nigeria, and Dahomey, and the region known as the area of Guineas, together known as the Slave Coast. The vast majority were Yorubas and Igbos, ethnic groups from Nigeria, and Bantus from the Guineas. The number of slaves in Puerto Rico rose from 1,500 in 1530 to 15,000 by 1555. The slaves were stamped with a hot iron on the forehead, a branding which meant that they were brought to the country legally and prevented their kidnapping. African slaves were sent to work in the gold mines to replace the Taíno, or to work in the fields in the island's ginger and sugar industry. They were allowed to live with their families in a bohio (hut) on the master's land, and were given a patch of land where they could plant and grow vegetables and fruits. Blacks had little or no opportunity for advancement and faced discrimination from the Spaniards. Slaves were educated by their masters and soon learned to speak the master's language, educating their own children in the new language. They enriched the "Puerto Rican Spanish" language by adding words of their own. The Spaniards considered the blacks superior to the Taíno, since the latter were unwilling to assimilate. The slaves, in contrast, had little choice but to adapt to their lives. Many converted (at least nominally) to Christianity; they were baptized by the Catholic Church and were given the surnames of their masters. Many slaves were subject to harsh treatment; and women were subject to sexual abuse because of the power relationships. The majority of the Conquistadors and farmers who settled the island had arrived without women; many of them intermarried with the blacks or Taínos. Their mixed-race descendants formed the first generations of the early Puerto Rican population.〔 In 1527, the first major slave rebellion occurred in Puerto Rico, as dozen of slaves fought against the colonist in a brief revolt. The few slaves who escaped retreated to the mountains, where they resided as maroons with surviving Taínos. By 1873, slaves had carried out more than twenty revolts, including some of great political importance, such as the Ponce and Vega Baja conspiracies. By 1570, the colonists found that the gold mines were depleted of the precious metal. After gold mining came to an end on the island, the Spanish Crown bypassed Puerto Rico by moving the western shipping routes to the north. The island became primarily a garrison for those ships that would pass on their way to or from richer colonies. The cultivation of crops such as tobacco, cotton, cocoa, and ginger became the cornerstone of the economy. The cultivation of these crops required little manpower, such that the families did all the farming themselves. The use of slaves was reduced for these crops.〔"Slave revolts in Puerto Rico: conspiracies and uprisings, 1795-1873"; by: Guillermo A. Baralt; Pages 5 & 6; Publisher Markus Wiener Publishers; ISBN 1-55876-463-1, ISBN 978-1-55876-463-7〕〔(''Slave revolts in Puerto Rico: conspiracies and uprisings, 1795-1873.'' ) Guillermo Baralt. Pages 5, 6. Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers. ISBN 1-55876-463-1, ISBN 978-1-55876-463-7. Retrieved 27 January 2012.〕 But, major planters increased their cultivation and processing of sugar cane, as demand for sugar was rising internationally. Sugar plantations supplanted mining as Puerto Rico's main industry and kept demand high for African slavery. Spain promoted sugar cane development by granting loans and tax exemptions to the owners of the plantations. They were also given permits to participate in the African slave trade.〔 To attract more workers, in 1664 Spain offered freedom and land to African people from non-Spanish colonies, such as Jamaica and Saint-Domingue (later Haiti). The immigrants provided a population base to support the Puerto Rican garrison and its forts. Those freedmen who settled the western and southern parts of the island soon adopted the ways and customs of the Spaniards. Some joined the local militia, which fought against the British in the many British attempts to invade the island. The escaped slaves and the freedman who emigrated from the West Indies kept their former master's surnames, which were normally either English or French. Even today some ethnic African Puerto Ricans still carry non-Spanish surnames, proof of their descent from these immigrants.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Afro-Puerto Rican」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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