Gaspar Yanga

Yanga, born in 1545, or Angola in the Congo region, where the name Yanga is more prevalent than in any other region of Africa today. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery in New Spain (colonial Mexico), where he was baptized with the name Gaspar Yanga. By 1640, nearly 150,000 enslaved people had been imported to New Spain, as sugar and textile production drove the demand for slaves. In the Americas, only Brazil had a higher import rate during this time. == Yanga's Rebellion ==

Establishment of maroon community Around 1570, Yanga and a group of his fellow slaves escaped the sugar plantation where they were held, fleeing to the highlands near Mt. Orizaba. The runaway slaves, called , built a small maroon colony, or , which grew to a population of about 500 and remained undisturbed for 30 years. The Spaniards refused the terms and went into battle, resulting in heavy losses for both sides. The Spaniards advanced into the maroon settlement and burned it. But, the maroons fought fiercely and were well accustomed to the surrounding terrain. The Spaniards could not achieve a conclusive victory. The resulting stalemate lasted years; finally, the Spanish agreed to parley. Yanga's terms were agreed to, with the additional provisons that only Franciscan priests (including Alonso de Benavides) would tend to the people, and that Yanga's family would be granted the right of rule. In 1618 the treaty was signed. In 1618 he finally negotiated with Spanish officials to grant freedom to the fugitive slaves and independence to their village, located near the village of Cordoba. It became known as San Lorenzo de los Negros (named after the cimarrons) or San Lorenzo de Cerralvo (named after Juan Laurencio, a Jesuit cleric who had accompanied the 1609 expedition sent by the Viceroy). They gave the town of San Lorenzo its "small independence".[2] By 1630 the town of San Lorenzo de los Negros de Cerralvo was established. Located in today's state of Veracruz, the town has been renamed Yanga. The black inhabitants of San Lorenzo proclaimed their loyalty to the Catholic Church and the King of Spain, but refused to pay tribute to the Spanish government. ==Legacy and honors==

In 1871, five decades after Mexican independence, Yanga was designated as a "national hero of Mexico" and . This was based largely on an account by historian Vicente Riva Palacio. The influential Riva Palacio was also a novelist, short story writer, military general, and mayor of Mexico City. In the late 1860s he found in Inquisition archives accounts of Yanga and of the 1609 Spanish expedition against him, as well as the later agreement. He published an account of Yanga in an anthology in 1870, and as a separate pamphlet in 1873. ==See also==