Gaspar Yanga family name Yanga
Early life
Yanga, aka Nyanga, was said to be of the Bran people and a member of the royal family of Gabon. He was captured and sold into slavery in Mexico, where he was called Gaspar Yanga. Before the end of the slave trade, New Spain had the sixth-highest slave population (estimated 200,000) of the Americas after Brazil (over 4.9 million), the Caribbean (over 4 million), Cuba (over 1 million), Hispaniola and the United States (half a million).Around 1570, Yanga led a band of slaves in escaping to the highlands near Veracruz. They built a small maroon colony, or palenque.: 5  Its isolation helped protect it for more than 30 years, and other fugitive slaves found their way there. Because the people survived in part by raiding caravans taking goods along the Camino Real (Royal Road) between Veracruz and Mexico City, in 1609 the Spanish colonial government decided to undertake a campaign to regain control of this territory.: 5
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