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Virtual Guide | Slavery | SurinamHistory | Slave Trade | Shipment | SurinamSlavery & Abolition in the USA | Slavery Today Africans in Eastern South AmericaEuropean explorers have traveled into the interior of eastern South America since the 16th century. Few created detailed drawings and other visual representations of the Native American and later African peoples they encountered on their journeys.17th century representations include Travel Accounts by Andries Battel in Brasil, and by Charles Leigh for Guyana in 1604. By the 19th century, these travel accounts had become more sophisticated, both in detail of record, as well as in quality of reproduction. The most popular and mass produced of these pictorial documents were those by John Steadman in Suriname and by João Mauricio Rugendas in Brazil. These drawings depicted the battles which occurred between the Europeans and the Native Americans, yet they also provide insights into the personal life ways of the Native American and African peoples as well. As there are hundreds of drawings by these two authors available in the historical record. This exhibition shows drawings that best portray the lives of the Africans, slaves and free immigrants and the world they lived in. Not all of the Africans captives passively submitted to slavery. Many escaped into the interior and tried to form colonies. The Spanish called them, "Cimarrones", which later was translated into French as "Maroons". The Bushnegroes of Suriname are some of the most developed examples of Maroon societies. When the African slaves organized rebellions, the Spanish called them, "apalencados", and their retreats "palenques". According to Jose Luciano Franco, the first African slave insurrection was on December 26, 1522, at Santo Domingo, followed by subsequent African revolts at Santa Marta, Colombia, in 1529, at Panama in 1531, and at Mexico in 1537. As examples of African resistance, we mention Jamaican Maroon wars throughout the 17th century with a particularly serious offensive in 1655. The colony of Palmares in Pernambuco, Brazil, was the earliest "Black Republic" in the Western Hemisphere. These Africans resisted Portuguese attacks from 1672-1692. In the 18th century, African slave revolted in Suriname from 1715-1763. There was a massive Berbice uprising of 1763, and slave revolts on Curacao in 1750 and 1795. Nine African slave revolts are recorded for the Brazilian colony of Bahia from 1807 to1835. As a result of these struggles for freedom and with perseverance, the nations of South America eventually abolished the slave trade and slavery. The French territory of Guyana was the first in 1798, with Argentina and Colombia beginning abolition legislation in 1813 and 1814 respectively, followed by (British) Guyana in 1837, (Dutch Guyana) Suriname in 1863, Venezuela in 1868, and lastly with Brazil in 1888. 
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