{"id":3164,"date":"2022-11-08T05:25:54","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T05:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/?p=3164"},"modified":"2022-11-08T05:31:08","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T05:31:08","slug":"juan-garrido","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/juan-garrido\/","title":{"rendered":"The Life of Juan Garrido, The First Black Conquistador"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The life story of Juan Garrido would not be complete without mentioning the transatlantic slave trade, which existed from the 16th to the 19th century. Spain invaded the Americas in the 1490s.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During that time, millions of enslaved Africans were transported through the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The Spaniards captured them as slaves and laborers in various industries, especially sugar plantations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the enslaved captures were the armed auxiliary of African descent. This consisted of men ranging from African-born slaves to free men of mixed racial ancestry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They joined the Spanish invasion as soldiers; many fought as black conquistadors alongside Spaniards against the native warriors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The military service of black conquistadors gave them their freedom and inclusion into Spanish society. They received land grants, special recognition, official jobs, and pension. One of these African conquistadors was Juan Garrido.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Early Life of Juan Garrido<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Juan Garrido, alias Handsome John, was a black African-Spanish conquistador born in the 1480s in the Kingdom of Kongo (West Central Africa). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The true details surrounding his birth and real name are unknown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sold as a young boy to the Portuguese slave traders, they baptized and converted him to catholicism. In Lisbon, Portugal, he chose the Spanish name Juan Garrido.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At fifteen years old, he left Lisbon, traveled to Seville, and joined the Santo Domingo convoy on the Island of Hispaniola in 1503, where he spent six years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juan Garrido was among the earliest Africans to reach the Americas. He possibly traveled with a Spaniard named Pedro Garrido, who may have been his master and Christian namesake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, Juan Garrido claimed to have arrived in the Americas as a freedman. However, no one knows how he was a free man among the captured slaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are speculations that he might have earned his freedom in 1508, fighting and participating in the conquest of present-day Puerto Rico and Cuba. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Spanish government allowed the conquistadors to take treasures, land, and slaves. This was an attempt to convert the people to Christianity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juan Garrido Conquests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The story of Juan Garrido is quite an interesting one. This is because, when all Africans were regarded as slaves, Juan Garrido was a free man and a roaming African conquistador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the year 1508, he joined the expedition of Ponce De Leon in his mission to search for Gold in Puerto Rico. Once they settled, Ponce De Leon became the Governor of the island. Garrido, alongside the Spanish, fought against the natives who revolted in 1511. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that, Ponce De Leon took Juan Garrido with others in search of another treasury island after losing his position to Diego Columbus in 1513. As part of the entourage, their journey led to the Spanish discovery of Florida. They claimed and named the land but couldn\u2019t conquer the natives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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