'Spirit of resistance': Marking 500 years since the first slave revolt in the Americas

Five hundred years ago this month, the Americas saw its first revolt of enslaved people, when Black Africans rose up against colonial powers in the Caribbean.

He was governor of La Española, the present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti, according to a monograph on the revolt published by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute (DSI) at the City College of New York.

The enslaved people marched 62 miles from the plantation to a village in an attempt to reach other Black Africans seeking freedom.

The year after the revolt, La Española introduced laws targeting Black people that were set in place to restrict the rights and movements of any person who was Black, whether they were free or not

“These are the first laws that are going to tell masters and others that were a part of the power structure in La Española how the black enslaved people are going to be treated,” Hernandez said

But the Santo Domingo Revolt was the first time Black Africans were combating authorities head-on, which led to strict and punitive treatment.