Yanga's free town: a maroon nation wins a treaty from Spain (Veracruz, 1570–1618, recognized 1630)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1570 · Places: Louisiana, Gulf Coast, Mexico, Europe, Africa
SUMMARYYanga's free town: a maroon nation wins a treaty from Spain (Veracruz, 1570–1618, recognized 1630) [Connections: Gulf, Louisiana, Texas & Mexico, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDGaspar Yanga escaped around 1570 and built a palenque of about 500 people near Mount Orizaba. In 1609 Pedro González de Herrera led about 550 troops from Puebla; the Spanish burned the settlement but could not win. The 1618 treaty gave self-rule, and Wikipedia notes that Yanga's terms resembled agreements between "Indigenous peoples and Spaniards" (self-rule for tribute and military aid). The town San Lorenzo de los Negros was established by 1630, renamed Yanga in 1932, and Yanga was named a national hero in 1871
PATTERNSpain dealt with an African-led maroon town using the treaty model it used for Native nations
LENS (WW9)Free people with their own land and council, recognized by treaty like a nation
OPENWhether Indigenous people lived in Yanga's palenque is not on the fetched pages and needs deep research (Proctor 2009, Rowell 2008)
SOURCEGaspar Yanga (Wikipedia); Minority Rights Group, Afro-Mexicans.