Introduction Black people began to arrive in La Española with the first transatlantic expedition led by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and continued to do so throughout the sixteenth century, either as

Timeline This timeline includes the main facts about the early black inhabitants of La Española that resided in the colony between the 1490s and the 1610s as they appear mentioned

Glossary This glossary describes the meanings of some of the words in the manuscripts of this website that present an old Spanish spelling or may be no longer in use

The growth of the black population in La Española in the 1500s Since the arrival of the first known Blacks on the island of La Española during the two decades

Urgent need for more research One of the objectives of First Blacks in the Americas is to stimulate and encourage the initiation and production of additional research into the existing historical-archival sources that contain

An almost total lack of iconography One of the most challenging, and somewhat frustrating, circumstances in the study, research, and learning about the earliest Black peoples that inhabited the colony

The maps in this website Maps are useful tools in the building of our historical knowledge about societies and peoples, giving us information about the relative locations and physical environments

The Archival Manuscripts The main, and most abundant, primary sources of information about the inhabitants of La Española (Black and otherwise) during the centuries of its colonial period, which is the

Structure The core of the First Blacks in the Americas platform is formed by a series of thematic historical overviews on general aspects of the early history of Black people in La

Thanks and acknowledgements   The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute (CUNY DSI) thanks New York State Assemblyman Hon. Keith Wright for the initial partial funding for the First Blacks in the Americas project