Gurabo, Santiago 1805 Slave Rebellion

Throughout the history of the colonization of the island of Hispaniola(Quisqueya-Ayiti) there have been Maroons, both African and Native. This fight for freedom never ceased as the island, specially during the first 250 years of Spanish colonization where Maroons where numerous in all of the territory. Most of these maroons where brought down via peace treaties and in exchange for guaranteed freedom and to be "left alone". Most of us hear of the famous rebellions such as the Upper West African (Senengambian) Maroons in 1521, the famous Congolese Lemba of hte 1540s, and a myriad of others such as Juan Vaquero, Diego de Ocampo and the hundreds if not thousands of un-named women who where instrumental in these rebellions and maroonage.

Rebellion of Gurabo 1805
In the Valley of Gurabo, Santiago Late 1700s to Early 1800s, Don Marcos Mendez along with some of his relatives had many agricultural projects which where powered by the work of enslaved Africans and creoles. According to his family's oral history "Marcos Mendez was killed in a slave rebellion his slaves at the beginning of the 1800s, because the slaves where egged on or inspired by Haitian troops". Given the numerous endless rebellions well into the end of the 1700s no Haitian influence was necessary to inspire enslaved people to want their freedom, however this is his family's testimony.

Who where these enslaved people who rebelled?
There is a document made in 1776-1777 that documents an audit of illegally purchased slaves in the island and taxes the slave owners for having evaded said taxes. Source:  A.H.N Ultramar, Libro 683. Libro de Negros Indultos de Negros de mala entrada en el norte de Santo Domingo, 1776 Above are two declared slaves of Marcos Mendez.

Don Marcos Mendez, of Gurabo, Santiago:
Nicolas, 13 Years old of Senegalese ethnicity, with a mark on his right chest
Ana, 20 Years old, Creole of Juana Mendez but of Senegalese Ethnicity,
Both of these individuals likely spoke the same language or at the very least could communicate.



Don Juan Antonio Mendez of Gurabo, Santiago:

Total of 12 enslaved persons:
Joseph Antonio, 30 years old of the Mandinga Ethnicity and with Tribal marks on his face
Francisco, 30 years old, of the Mandinga Ethnicity and with Tribal marks on his face
Lorenzo, of the Congolese ethnicity with a very flat nose and no Tribal marks
Baltazar, 30 years old, of the Pular ethnicity with diseased hands and feet
Ramon, 50 years old, of the Mandinga Ethnicity, and with Tribal marks on his face and chest
Nicolas, 53 years old, of the Mandinga Ethnicity with Tribal marks
Batista, 60 years old, of the Arada ethnicity, with Tribal Marks
Batista, 60 Years old, of the Chamba ethnicity, with Tribal marks , an O on his back.
Luis, 13 Years old, Creole and raised of the french side, French stamps on his back and chest, and back scarred by a whip.
Un-Named, 20 years old of the Bambara ethnicity, with Tribal marks
Maria, 25 Years old of the Bambara Ethnicity,

Francisca, 25 Years old of the Mandinga Ethnicity, with Tribal marks on her face



Total Mendez African Ethnicities of Gurabo:
5 Mandingas
2 Bambaras
2 Senegalese
1 Pular
1 Congolese
1 Arada
1 Chamba
1 Creole of Saint Domingue

What does this tell us about the slaves of the Mendez in Gurabo?

• They where very heavily shifted towards northwest Africa, from a cultural region called Senegambia or Upper Guinea that is home to hundreds of ethnicities and tons of multi-lingual peoples. Some of the mentioned of this region are: Mandingas, Bambaras, Senegals, Pular's, They make up 71% of the Africans on the Mendez estates of Gurabo! 
• The other 29% where of various ethnicities from Arada (Benin), Chamba (Nigeria), Congolese and a Creole of Saint Domingue
• They would have at the very least had a strong lean torwards Islam since 71% of these Africans are from the islamic belt of West Africa. 
• The tasks that these men and women would be in crop fields, so likely tobacco, coffee, cacao and other crops, as opposed to some slave masters who raised cattle. 
• Given the large amount of people with their nation's scars and tatoos, most of these individuals where likely sold after puberty initations so from their teens to adult-hood. 
• Generally speaking, many same ethnicity and same-region peoples in the same estate are highly likely to be able to communicate efficiently, making an uprising much more organized, this is true for example of the male revolt in brazil. This is also true with Santo Domingo's own 1521 rebellion where the two leaders where Wolof.
• The rebellion happened around ~1805 if most of these people where still enslaved, , they'd be between 42 and 89 years old with many being in their 50s. Its of course highly likely that the family would have purchased more individuals in that 29 year time period.
• The rebellion of boca de nigua on October 30, 1796 would have preceded this one by almost a decade and could have easily served as inspiration, the one in Nigua, San Cristobal was much larger, total of 200 slaves rebelled.

Myth of the benevolence of slavery on the Spanish side:
While it is true that from a general perspective slavery in Santo Domingo had a more passive climate then others colonies such as Saint Domingue, Brazil and Cuba, this was not the case in every single plantation, and even with the passive-ness of say Coffee picking, every human yearns for freedom, so rebellions and maroonage where quite commonplace.

Cotui: 8 April 1777:
..... "I also present a runaway who has been absent since the 9th of March, A black slave named Josef of the Congolese ethnicity, of about 12 to 14 years old, with an un-readable branding and of a messed up leg".....



Cevico Cotui, 14, April, 1777:
".... A runaway who has been in running since the 6th of this month, he is a black slave named Josef whose ethnicity is ignored, with 3 lines on his face tribal mark of his nation, of 25 years of age, with branding on his chest ..."



Where are the descendants of these rebels?:
While this will take some some research and likely another post, the Cibao (north) of the island had alot of sparsley populated areas at the end of the 1700s and they would have likely settled in a nearby town. Crossing over to the southern part of the island in this time period was only possible by going all the way east to Cotui. It is also uncertain if they would have kept the Mendez surnames, in some cases the individual would change their surname to another post-freedom.