Black people in the Canary Islands: evolution, assimilation and miscegenation (16th-17th centuries)

Abstract

We wanted to give an accurate view on the black population in the Canary Islands, not only as slaves. The text is structured in two large parts, the first one relative to a geographical and chronological overview of the demographic presence of people of African descent and the second to alienation, assimilation and daily life. We will give an estimate on the number of Africans arrived in the Islands. We attempt to bring together the own elements of the Canarian economy and society with the African specific features, which allow us to set a picture of times in which the own originalities of this group in this Atlantic spot can be seen.