The Dutch yacht Bruynvisch delivered the first enslaved Africans to Manhattan (formerly known as New Netherland) in 1627. This research article shines a new light on this forgotten history, challenging old assumptions about where these people came from and who they were.
Abstract: By using a research methodology that is commonly applied to enslaved communities in Latin America, this article provides new insights into the origins and identities of the captives the Dutch yacht Bruynvisch brought in 1627 to New Netherland, the Dutch colony in North America. Based on hitherto unexplored documents from the Archivo General de Indias, it claims that the first enslaved Africans to arrive in Manhattan had most likely been living in São Tomé for a significant period of time, which shaped their ladino identities. It subsequently applies this theory to the importance of baptism and land ownership to this community by arguing that these were not new community-building patterns but Luso-African social customs they had already accustomed themselves to while living in São Tomé. This finding implies that Iberian cultural and social elements, albeit re-invented from an African perspective in São Tomé, played a major role in the identity-formation of Manhattan’s first Black community.