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''Trouvadore'' was a Spanish slave ship that was shipwrecked in 1841 near East Caicos in the course of a run transporting Africans to be illegally sold to the sugar plantations in Cuba. As the United Kingdom had a treaty with Spain prohibiting the international slave trade and had abolished slavery in its colonies in 1833, it freed the 192 slaves who survived the wreck. Individuals and families, a total of 168 Africans, were placed with salt proprietors for apprenticeships in the Turks and Caicos Islands; the remaining 24 Africans were settled in Nassau. == Voyage of ''Trouvadore'' == Slave trading was illegal in Spain, as the country had outlawed the slave trade and had a treaty with the United Kingdom to that effect. However, governors in Cuba often turned a blind eye to the trade, as they believed slave labour was integral to the profitability of the sugar plantations producing their most important commodity crop. The exact route of ''Trouvadore'' is not known, but the records state that new crew members were picked up in São Tomé, a Portuguese colony off the coast of Africa that still legally traded enslaved Africans. The exact number of Africans loaded onto ''Trouvadore'' is not recorded but would have been around 280-300. When the ship wrecked off East Caicos in March 1841, all the 20 crew members and 193 Africans aboard survived. This suggested that around 100 slaves had died during the Atlantic crossing, a typical loss for a venture of this kind. On landing on East Caicos, a number of the Africans fled into the bush, and a woman was shot dead by one of the crew. As the United Kingdom had abolished slavery in its West Indies colonies effective 1834, the colony residents knew that the Africans should be freed. In 1841 East Caicos was a large deserted island. Residents from the neighbouring Island of Middle Caicos gave the first assistance to the crew and Africans, and notified authorities on Grand Turk Island, the political capital of the Turks and Caicos. They dispatched British soldiers to secure the crew and bring all the survivors back to Grand Turk whilst a decision was made on the Africans' future. Residents from Middle Caicos had disarmed the Spanish crew before the arrival of Lt. Fitzgerald with his men; he arrested them without need for force. On Grand Turk, the ship's crew were placed under armed guard; they were eventually taken to Nassau where they were given to the custody of the Cuban consul, who took them to Cuba for prosecution. Authorities placed 168 Africans with local salt proprietors. Adults and older children were put into a one-year apprenticeship to learn to process salt, nearly the only source of work on the island. All the Africans were baptised and taught English. As these 168 individuals increased the small colonial population by 7%, they strongly influenced the developing society and culture, adding a level of renewed Africanization. Descendants of these free Africans have formed a large part of the Turks and Caicos population. 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「Trouvadore」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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