Did Africans come to the Caribbean before Columbus?

While we commend Christopher Columbus (or should we say, Cristobal Colon) for sailing the seas in search of new land on Europe’s behalf, he was not the first to make that journey. In fact, widely untaught evidence exists that Africans sailed to the Americas and settled centuries before Columbus.

When did the first African slaves arrive in the Caribbean?

Slave imports to the islands of the Caribbean began in the early 16th century.

Where did Caribbean slaves come from?

Jamaican enslaved peoples came from West/Central Africa and South-East Africa. Many of their customs survived based on memory and myths.

Did Columbus actually come to America?

Explorer Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) is known for his 1492 ‘discovery’ of the New World of the Americas on board his ship Santa Maria. In actual fact, Columbus did not discover North America. On his subsequent voyages he went farther south, to Central and South America.

Where did the Africans come from in South America?

The presence of Africans in South America has also been recorded by a number of historians who had travelled. Even Columbus himself mentioned in his records that, the native people told him that black skinned people had come from the south and southeast in ships trading in gold-tipped metal spears.

Was there an African presence in the new world before Columbus?

Although eyewitness accounts of early European explorers may be the best evidence of an African presence in the New World that preceded Columbus, it is certainly not the only evidence.

When did Africans first come to America?

In truth, Africans began coming to the Americas thousands of years before Columbus; and the evidence of their presence, though systematically ignored by mainstream scholars, is overwhelming and undeniable.

Were there African skeletons found in the Americas before Columbus?

Even more ancient African skeletons that would clearly predate Columbus’ arrival in the Americas were discovered throughout Central America and South America with some even being unearthed in what is now California.