Fort Amsterdam is a former slave fort in Abandze , Central region , Ghana . It was built by the English between 1638 and 1645 as Fort Cormantin or Fort Courmantyne, and was captured by admiral Michiel de Ruyter of the Dutch West India Company in 1665, in retaliation for the capture of several Dutch forts by the English Admiral Holmes in 1664. It was subsequently made part of the Dutch Gold Coast , and remained part of it until the fort was traded with the British in 1868. The Fort is located at Abandze , on the north-east of Cape Coast in the Mfantseman District of the Central Region of Ghana . Because of its testimony to European economic and colonial influence in West Africa and its historical importance in the Atlantic slave trade , the fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with other forts and castles in Ghana .
108-574: Coromantee , Coromantins , Coromanti or Kormantine (derived from the name of the Ghanaian slave fort Fort Kormantine in the Ghanaian town of Kormantse , Central Ghana) is an English-language term for enslaved people from the Akan ethnic group , taken from the Gold Coast region in modern-day Ghana . The name Coromantee, Kromantyn or Kromanti, in both Jamaica and Suriname , is derived from
216-408: A sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age. Both routes may have been taken, although the genetic evidences suggests a single founding population. The micro-satellite diversity and distributions specific to South American Indigenous peoples indicates that certain populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. A second migration occurred after
324-534: A British supervisor. The 1733 slave insurrection on St. John in the Danish West Indies (now St. John, United States Virgin Islands ) started on 23 November 1733, when 150 enslaved Africans from (present-day Ghana ) revolted against the owners and managers of the island's plantations . Lasting several months into August 1734, the slave rebellion was one of the earliest and longest slave revolts in
432-518: A French colony. The colonial militia continued to hunt down maroons and finally declared the rebellion at an end in late August 1734. In 1736, on the island of Antigua , an enslaved African known as Prince Klaas (whose real name was thought to be Court or Kwaku Takyi) planned an uprising in which whites would be massacred. Court was crowned "King of the Coromantees" in a pasture outside the capital of St. John's , in what white observers thought
540-460: A dispute between Cuffy and Akra led to a war. On 2 April 1763, Cuffy wrote to Governor van Hoogenheim saying that he did not want a war against the whites and proposed a partition of Berbice with the whites occupying the coastal areas and the blacks the interior. Akara's faction won, and Cuffy killed himself. The anniversary of Cuffy's slave rebellion, 23 February, is Republic Day in Guyana, and Cuffy
648-573: A few hidden documents remain today, leaving modern historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge. The first inhabitants migrated into the Americas from Asia. Habitation sites are known in Alaska and Yukon from at least 20,000 years ago, with suggested ages of up to 40,000 years. Beyond that, the specifics of the Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including
756-482: A long chain of mountains that runs the length of the west coast. The flatter eastern side of the Americas is dominated by large river basins, such as the Amazon , St. Lawrence River – Great Lakes , Mississippi , and La Plata basins. Since the Americas extend 14,000 km (8,700 mi) from north to south, the climate and ecology vary widely, from the arctic tundra of Northern Canada , Greenland , and Alaska , to
864-400: A major battle at Bachelor's Adventure, Jack fled into the woods. A "handsome reward" of one thousand guilders was offered for the capture of Jack, Quamina, and about twenty other "fugitives". Jack and his wife were captured by Capt. McTurk at Chateau Margo on 6 September after a three-hour standoff. Quamina remained at large until he was captured on 16 September in the fields of Chateau Margo. He
972-526: A maroon settlement created at the end of the First Maroon War, located in the parish of St James, but named after governor Edward Trelawny , and the British colonials who controlled the island. The other Jamaican Maroon communities did not participate in this rebellion, and their treaty with the British remained in place. Barbados was also a central commercial point to which enslaved people from
1080-427: A million years, with the total spread of South American genera into North America far more limited in scope than the spread of North American genera into South America. There are 35 sovereign states in the Americas, as well as an autonomous country of Denmark , three overseas departments of France , three overseas collectivities of France, and one uninhabited territory of France, eight overseas territories of
1188-485: A number of islands. The gaps in the archipelago of Central America filled in with material eroded off North America and South America, plus new land created by continued volcanism. By three million years ago, the continents of North America and South America were linked by the Isthmus of Panama , thereby forming the single landmass of the Americas. The Great American Interchange resulted in many species being spread across
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#17327719844611296-477: A rational man, and heeding the advice of Rev. Smith, he urged him to tell the other enslaved people, particularly the Christians, not to rebel. He sent Manuel and Seaton on this mission. When he knew the rebellion was imminent, he urged restraint and made his fellow slaves promise a peaceful strike. Jack led tens of thousands of enslaved people to rise against their enslavers. After the enslaved people's defeat in
1404-722: A series of rivers and streams that flow east with their terminus in the Atlantic Ocean, such as the Hudson River , Saint John River , and Savannah River . A similar instance arises with central Canadian rivers that drain into Hudson Bay ; the largest being the Churchill River . On the west coast of North America, the main rivers are the Colorado River , Columbia River , Yukon River , Fraser River , and Sacramento River . The Colorado River drains much of
1512-541: A shared population of flora and fauna around 2.5 million years ago, when continental drift brought the two continents into contact via the Isthmus of Panama . Initially, the exchange of biota was roughly equal, with North American genera migrating into South America in about the same proportions as South American genera migrated into North America. This exchange is known as the Great American Interchange . The exchange became lopsided after roughly
1620-597: A single continent, the Americas or America is the 2nd largest continent right after Asia, and is the 3rd largest continent by population. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth 's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World . Along with their associated islands , the Americas cover 8% of Earth's total surface area and 28.4% of its land area. The topography is dominated by the American Cordillera ,
1728-587: A single, supreme God, Nyame – and Anansi stories. These stories spread to the New World and became Anancy, Anansi Drew, or Br'er Rabbit stories in Jamaica, The Bahamas , and the Southern United States , respectively. According to Long, Akan or "Coromantee" culture obliterated any other African customs, and incoming non-Akan Africans had to submit to the culture of the dominant Akan population in Jamaica. Akan deities referred to as Abosom in
1836-516: A supposed plot of arson in the Province of New York was allegedly conducted by three enslaved men, Cuffee, Prince, and Caesar. These three men were alleged to have burned several buildings, including the home of Lieutenant Governor George Clarke . The leaders, Cuffee and Quack (Kwaku), were tried for arson, found guilty, and burned at the stake. In total, they burnt 13 black men at the stake and hung 17, along with four whites. Among those arrested when
1944-707: A synonym). Latin America is typically contrasted with Anglo-America , where English, a Germanic language , is prevalent, and which comprises Canada (with the exception of Francophone Canada rooted in Latin Europe [France]—see Quebec and Acadia ) and the United States. Both countries are located in North America, with cultures deriving predominantly from British and other Germanic roots. The transatlantic slave trade brought millions of Africans to
2052-453: A wide variety of indigenous religions, many of which can be categorized as animistic ; new age religions and many African and African-derived religions. Syncretic faiths can also be found throughout the Americas. Various languages are spoken in the Americas. Some are of European origin, others are spoken by indigenous peoples or are the mixture of various languages like the different creoles. The most widely spoken first language in
2160-421: Is a national hero commemorated in a large monument in the capital, Georgetown . Coromantee enslaved people were also behind a conspiracy in 1765 to revolt. The leaders of the rebellion sealed their pact with an oath. Coromantee leaders Blackwell and Quamin (Kwame) ambushed and killed a group of colonial militiamen at a fort near Port Maria , Jamaica, as well as other whites in the area. They intended to ally with
2268-470: Is generally quite flat. Similarly, the north-east of South America is covered by the flat Amazon basin . The Brazilian Highlands on the east coast are fairly smooth but show some variations in landform, while farther south the Gran Chaco and Pampas are broad lowlands . The climate of the Americas varies significantly from region to region. Tropical rainforest climate occurs in the latitudes of
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#17327719844612376-623: Is kept from killing himself, only to be publicly executed. During his death by dismemberment, Oroonoko calmly smokes a pipe and stoically withstands all the pain without crying out. Fort Amsterdam, Ghana Early in 1782, Captain Thomas Shirley in the 50-gun ship Leander and the sloop-of-war Alligator sailed to the Dutch Gold Coast . This was during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in which Britain
2484-416: Is sold into slavery. The king's guilt, however, leads him to falsely inform Oroonoko that she has been executed since death was thought to be better than slavery. Later, after winning another tribal war, Oroonoko is betrayed and captured by an English captain who plans to enslave him and his men. The captain transports both Imoinda and Oroonoko to the colony of Surinam . The two lovers are reunited there, under
2592-691: Is that of the Mississippi , covering the second largest watershed on the planet. The Mississippi-Missouri river system drains most of 31 states of the United States, most of the Great Plains , and large areas between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. This river is the fourth longest in the world and tenth most powerful in the world . In North America, to the east of the Appalachian Mountains , there are no major rivers but rather
2700-481: The Amazon , American cloud forests , southeastern Florida and Darién Gap . In the Rocky Mountains and Andes , dry and continental climates are observed. Often the higher altitudes of these mountains are snow-capped. Southeastern North America is well known for its occurrence of tornadoes and hurricanes , of which the vast majority of tornadoes occur in the United States' Tornado Alley , as well as in
2808-618: The Americas . The Akwamu enslaved people captured the fort in Coral Bay and took control of most of the island. They intended to resume crop production under their own authority and use Africans of other tribes as slave labor. Planters regained control by the end of May 1734, after the Akwamu were defeated by several hundred better-armed French and Swiss troops sent in April from Martinique ,
2916-715: The Arctic small tool tradition , a broad cultural entity that developed along the Alaska Peninsula , around Bristol Bay , and on the eastern shores of the Bering Strait c. 2500 BCE moved into North America. The Arctic small tool tradition, a Paleo-Eskimo culture branched off into two cultural variants, including the Pre-Dorset , and the Independence traditions of Greenland. The descendants of
3024-708: The Boothia Peninsula in northern Canada and Cape Froward in Chilean Patagonia , is roughly 14,000 km (8,700 mi). The mainland's most westerly point is the end of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska; Attu Island , further off the Alaskan coast to the west, is considered the westernmost point of the Americas. Ponta do Seixas in northeastern Brazil forms the easternmost extremity of
3132-524: The Fanti town of their imprisonment known as Kormantse . The Fantes and British captured their rivals the Asantes and these captives were sent to British colonies such as Jamaica. While Dutch Komenada Fantes allied themselves to capture British allied Fantes to Dutch colonies such as Suriname. Due to their militaristic background, Coromantins organized dozens of slave rebellions in Jamaica and elsewhere in
3240-495: The Latin version of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci 's first name. The feminine form America was originally used to refer to the newly discovered continent, which is why it was accorded with the feminine names of the other continents: Asia , Africa , and Europa . Since the 1950s, however, North America and South America have generally been considered by English speakers as separate continents, and taken together are called
3348-574: The Quaternary glaciation . These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats , they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by
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3456-812: The Slave Coast ) were kidnapped primarily from the Gold Coast and underwent subsequent creolization of the island's enslaved African population. The Bussa's Rebellion, along with other persistent slave rebellions throughout the Caribbean, had given the British Colonial government a further incentive to pass and enact the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 , officially abolishing slavery as an institution in all of its Caribbean territories. In 1822, an alleged conspiracy by enslaved Africans in
3564-708: The Southern Rockies and parts of the Basin and Range Province . The river flows approximately 1,450 miles (2,330 km) into the Gulf of California , during which over time it has carved out natural phenomena such as the Grand Canyon and created phenomena such as the Salton Sea . The Columbia is a large river, 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, in central western North America and is the most powerful river on
3672-668: The United Kingdom , three constituent countries of the Netherlands , three public bodies of the Netherlands, two unincorporated territories of the United States , and one uninhabited territory of the United States. In 2021 the total population of the Americas was about 1.03 billion people, divided as follows: There are three urban centers that each hold titles for being the largest population area based on
3780-422: The north side and a line of two or three storeyed buildings on the south side. The curtain and bastion on the north were solidly built, while the others were constructed with an earth filling between two walls of stone laid in mortar . As a result of cracks and disintegration at the time, it was left unoccupied. The bastion on the southeast , which was designed to be hollow, had a grated ventilation in
3888-619: The tropical rainforests in Central America and South America. Humans first settled the Americas from Asia between 20,000 and 16,000 years ago. A second migration of Na-Dene speakers followed later from Asia. The subsequent migration of the Inuit into the neoarctic c. 3500 BCE completed what is generally regarded as the settlement by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas . The first known European settlement in
3996-601: The Akan day names Kojo, Kwame, Kofi, and Kwamena, respectively. The word maroon became the Jamaican English term to mean "black person". Similarly, a white individual was called "obroni" (Akan) by the enslaved populace. Other Coromantee revolts followed, but these were all quickly suppressed. Coromantees (enslaved and runaway Maroons) and their Akan, imported from Ghana (the Gold Coast), ultimately influenced most of
4104-698: The Akan ethnic group, to defeat the Coromantins. Long describes a British man and a Mulatto man as each having killed three Coromantins. Eventually, Tacky was killed by a sharpshooter named Davy the Maroon , who was a Maroon officer in Scott's Hall. In 1763, a slave rebellion in Berbice , in present-day Guyana , was led by a Coromantin man named Cuffy or Kofi and his deputy Akra or Akara. The slave rebellion lasted from February 1763 into 1764. Cuffy, like Tacky,
4212-957: The American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization during the Early Modern period . The term Pre-Columbian is used especially often in the context of the great indigenous civilizations of the Americas , such as those of Mesoamerica ( Olmec , Toltec , Teotihuacano , Zapotec , Mixtec , Aztec , Maya ) and the Andean civilizations ( Inca , Moche , Chavín , Muisca , Cañari ). Many pre-Columbian civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies . Some of these civilizations had long faded by
4320-495: The Americas , or more rarely America . When conceived as a unitary continent, the form is generally the continent of America in the singular. However, without a clarifying context, singular America in English commonly refers to the United States of America . The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on
4428-476: The Americas began with the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. The first Spanish settlement in the Americas was La Isabela in northern Hispaniola . This town was abandoned shortly after in favor of Santo Domingo de Guzmán , founded in 1496, the oldest American city of European foundation. This was the base from which the Spanish monarchy administered its new colonies and their expansion. Santo Domingo
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4536-534: The Americas is Spanish , followed by English and Portuguese . The dominant language of Latin America is Spanish, though the most populous nation in Latin America, Brazil , speaks Portuguese . Small enclaves of French -, Dutch - and English-speaking regions also exist in Latin America, notably in French Guiana , Suriname , and Belize and Guyana respectively. Haitian Creole is dominant in
4644-597: The Americas is made up of the descendants of four large ethnic groups and their combinations. The majority of the population lives in Latin America , named for its predominant cultures, rooted in Latin Europe (including the two dominant languages, Spanish and Portuguese , both Romance languages ), more specifically in the Iberian nations of Portugal and Spain (hence the use of the term Ibero-America as
4752-557: The Americas was by the Norse explorer Leif Erikson . However, the colonization never became permanent and was later abandoned. The Spanish voyages of Christopher Columbus from 1492 to 1504 resulted in permanent contact with European (and subsequently, other Old World ) powers, which eventually led to the Columbian exchange and inaugurated a period of exploration , conquest, and colonization whose effects and consequences persist to
4860-489: The Americas, such as the cougar , porcupine , opossums , armadillos , and hummingbirds . The geography of the western Americas is dominated by the American Cordillera , with the Andes running along the west coast of South America and the Rocky Mountains and other North American Cordillera ranges running along the western side of North America. The 2,300-kilometer-long (1,400 mi) Appalachian Mountains run along
4968-545: The Americas. Decolonization of the Americas began with the American Revolution in the 1770s and largely ended with the Spanish–American War in the late 1890s. Currently, almost all of the population of the Americas resides in independent countries; however, the legacy of the colonization and settlement by Europeans is that the Americas share many common cultural traits, most notably Christianity and
5076-506: The Americas. Migration continued as people moved to the Americas fleeing religious persecution or seeking economic opportunities. Millions of individuals were forcibly transported to the Americas as slaves , prisoners or indentured servants . Decolonization of the Americas began with the American Revolution and the Haitian Revolution in the late 1700s. This was followed by numerous Latin American wars of independence in
5184-518: The Americas. Their fierce and rebellious nature became so notorious among European slave traders in the 18th century that an Act was proposed to ban the importation of Akan people from the Gold Coast despite their reputation as strong workers. Most European slave merchants came to understand that the Akan, while primarily peaceful and hardworking, were a proud and fiercely independent people who fought vehemently to protect their vast territories from encroachment by other expanding groups and also fought off
5292-427: The Atlantic Ocean. The Mackenzie River is the largest in Canada and drains 1,805,200 square kilometers (697,000 sq mi). The largest river basin in South America is that of the Amazon , which has the highest volume flow of any river on Earth. The second largest watershed of South America is that of the Paraná River , which covers about 2.5 million km . North America and South America began to develop
5400-497: The Caribbean began to achieve peaceful independence well after World War II . Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became independent in 1962, and Guyana and Barbados both achieved independence in 1966. In the 1970s, the Bahamas , Grenada , Dominica , St. Lucia , and St. Vincent and the Grenadines all became independent of the United Kingdom, and Suriname became independent of the Netherlands. Belize , Antigua and Barbuda , and Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence from
5508-447: The Dutch, Prussians, and Portuguese. Several rebellions in the 1700s were attributed to Coromantees. According to enslaver and colonial administrator Edward Long , the first rebellion occurred in 1690 between three or four hundred enslaved people in Clarendon Parish , Jamaica, who, after killing a white owner, seized firearms and provisions and killed an overseer at the neighbouring plantation . A militia formed and eventually suppressed
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#17327719844615616-405: The Gold Coast were imported before further dispersal to other British colonies such as Jamaica and British Guiana. Enslaved people were imported from the Gold Coast to Barbados from the 17th century onward to about the early 19th century. The slave revolt on 14 April 1816 in Barbados, also known as the Bussa's Rebellion , was led by an enslaved man named Bussa. Not much is known about his life before
5724-431: The Governor's servant; Joe Simpson from Le Reduit, and others. Specifically, Joe Simpson had written a letter saying their freedom was imminent, which heeded them to be patient. Jack wrote a letter (signing his father's name) to the members of the chapel informing them of the "new law". Being very close to Jack, he supported his son's aspirations to be free by supporting the fight for the rights of enslaved people. But being
5832-463: The Hudson River Valley, and what later became New Jersey. The spread of new diseases brought by Europeans and African slaves killed many of the inhabitants of North America and South America, with a general population crash of Native Americans occurring in the mid-16th century, often well ahead of European contact. One of the most devastating diseases was smallpox . European immigrants were often part of state-sponsored attempts to found colonies in
5940-448: The Jamaican Maroon population with their Maroon Spirit language . Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave is a relatively short work of prose fiction by Aphra Behn (1640–1689), published in 1688, concerning the love of its hero, an enslaved African in Surinam in the 1660s, and the author's own experiences in the new South American colony. Oroonoko is the grandson of a Coromantin African king, Prince Oroonoko, who falls in love with Imoinda,
6048-563: The Maroons to split up the island. The Coromantins were to give the Maroons the forests while the Coromantins would control the cultivated land. The Maroons did not agree because of their treaty and existing agreement with colonial government . In 1765, a bill was proposed to prevent the importation of Coromantees but was not passed. Edward Long, an anti-Coromantee writer, states: Such a bill, if passed into law would have struck at very root of evil. No more Coromantins would have been brought to infest this country, but instead of their savage race,
6156-496: The Norse colonies and Europe was maintained, as James Watson Curran states: From 985 to 1410, Greenland was in touch with the world. Then silence. In 1492 the Vatican noted that no news of that country "at the end of the world" had been received for 80 years, and the bishopric of the colony was offered to a certain ecclesiastic if he would go and "restore Christianity" there. He didn't go. Although there had been previous trans-oceanic contact , large-scale European colonization of
6264-455: The Pre-Dorset cultural group, the Dorset culture was displaced by the final migrants from the Bering sea coast line, the Thule people (the ancestors of modern Inuit ), by 1000 CE . Around the same time as the Inuit migrated into Greenland, Viking settlers began arriving in Greenland in 982 and Vinland shortly thereafter, establishing a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows , near the northernmost tip of Newfoundland . Contact between
6372-423: The Twi and Fante dialects were documented, and enslaved Akans would praise Nyankopong (erroneously written by the British as Accompong); libations would be poured to Asase Yaa (erroneously written as "Assarci") and Bosom Epo the sea god. Bonsam was referred to as the god of evil. The John Canoe festival was created in Jamaica and the Caribbean by enslaved Akans who sided with the man known as John Canoe. John Canoe
6480-496: The United Kingdom in the 1980s. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere . The northernmost point of the Americas is Kaffeklubben Island , which is the most northerly point of land on Earth. The southernmost point is the islands of Southern Thule , although they are sometimes considered part of Antarctica . The mainland of the Americas is the world's longest north-to-south landmass. The distance between its two polar extremities, Murchison Promontory on
6588-421: The United Kingdom, starting with the Balfour Declaration of 1926 , Statute of Westminster 1931 , and ending with the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982. The Dominion of Newfoundland similarly achieved independence under the Balfour Declaration and Statute of Westminster, but relinquished self-rule in 1934. It was subsequently confederated with Canada in 1949. The remaining European colonies in
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#17327719844616696-431: The United States brought from the Caribbean was organized by an enslaved man named Denmark Vesey or Telemaque. Historian Douglas Egerton suggested that Vesey could be of Coromantee (an Akan -speaking people) origin, based on remembrance by a free black carpenter who knew Vesey toward the end of his life. Inspired by the revolutionary spirit and actions of enslaved Africans during the 1791 Haitian Revolution and furious at
6804-496: The United States, and more specifically in the US state of Colorado . The highest peaks of the Americas are located in the Andes , with Aconcagua of Argentina being the highest; in North America Denali (Mount McKinley) in the US state of Alaska is the tallest. Between its coastal mountain ranges, North America has vast flat areas. The Interior Plains spread over much of the continent, with low relief. The Canadian Shield covers almost 5 million km of North America and
6912-433: The West Coast of the Americas. In the far northwest of North America, the Yukon drains much of the Alaskan peninsula and flows 1,980 miles (3,190 km) from parts of Yukon and the Northwest Territory to the Pacific. Draining to the Arctic Ocean of Canada, the Mackenzie River drains waters from the Arctic Great Lakes of Arctic Canada, as opposed to the Saint-Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes of Southern Canada into
7020-436: The black Jamaican culture: language, architecture, and food. After the British abolition of slavery in 1833, their influence and reputation began to wane as Coromantins were fully integrated into the larger British-influenced Jamaican society. However, Akan loanwords make up the most significant part of the African influence in Jamaican patois . Also, Patois has Akan arrangement and grammar. The Akan language has also influenced
7128-532: The closing of the African Church, Vesey began to plan a slave rebellion. His insurrection, which was to take place on Bastille Day , 14 July 1822, became known to thousands of blacks throughout Charleston, South Carolina , and along the Carolina coast. The plot called for Vesey and his group of enslaved people and free blacks to execute their enslavers and temporarily liberate the city of Charleston. Vesey and his followers planned to sail to Haiti to escape retaliation. Two enslaved men opposed to Vesey's scheme leaked
7236-423: The dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. Widespread habitation of the Americas occurred after the Late Glacial Maximum , from 16,000 to 13,000 years ago. The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered during
7344-438: The daughter of that king's top general. The king, too, falls in love with Imoinda. He gives her the sacred veil, thus commanding her to become one of his wives, even though she has already married Oroonoko. After unwillingly spending time in the king's harem (the Otan), Imoinda and Oroonoko plan a tryst with the help of the sympathetic Onahal and Aboan. They are eventually discovered, and because she has lost her virginity, Imoinda
7452-473: The early 1800s. Between 1811 and 1825, Paraguay , Argentina , Chile , Gran Colombia , the United Provinces of Central America , Mexico , Brazil , Peru , and Bolivia gained independence from Spain and Portugal in armed revolutions. After the Dominican Republic won independence from Haiti , it was re-annexed by Spain in 1861, but reclaimed its independence in 1865 at the conclusion of the Dominican Restoration War . The last violent episode of decolonization
7560-414: The east coast of North America from Alabama to Newfoundland . North of the Appalachians, the Arctic Cordillera runs along the eastern coast of Canada. The largest mountain ranges are the Andes and Rocky Mountains . The Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range reach similar altitudes as the Rocky Mountains , but are significantly smaller. In North America, the greatest number of fourteeners are in
7668-428: The enslaved people surrender, Oroonoko and the others are punished and whipped. Oroonoko decides to kill Byam to avenge his honor and express his natural worth. But to protect Imoinda from violation and subjugation after his death, he decides to kill her. The two lovers discuss the plan, and with a smile on her face, Imoinda willingly dies by his hand. A few days later, Oroonoko is found mourning by her decapitated body and
7776-414: The fire, the enslaved black folks, armed with guns, hatchets, and swords, defended themselves from the whites and then ran off. Eight whites died, and seven were wounded. Over the next few days, colonial forces arrested seventy black people and jailed them. Twenty-seven were put on trial, 21 of whom were convicted and sentenced to death. Led by Cudjoe and Queen Nanny (Kojo and Nana), the First Maroon War
7884-645: The first half of the 16th century, Spanish colonists conducted raids throughout the Caribbean Basin , bringing captives from Central America, northern South America, and Florida back to Hispaniola and other Spanish settlements. France, led by Jacques Cartier and Giovanni da Verrazzano , focused primarily on North America. English explorations of the Americas were led by Giovanni Caboto and Sir Walter Raleigh . The Dutch in New Netherland confined their operations to Manhattan Island, Long Island,
7992-439: The harsh conditions and maltreatment. Those on Le Resouvenir, where Smith's chapel was situated, also rebelled. Quamina Gladstone was a member of Smith's church, and the population there included: 2,500 whites, 2,500 freed blacks , and 77,000 enslaved people; Quamina had been one of five chosen to become deacons by the congregation soon after Smith's arrival. Following the arrival of news from Britain that measures aimed at improving
8100-525: The initial peopling of the Americas; Na Dene speakers found predominantly in North American groups at varying genetic rates with the highest frequency found among the Athabaskans at 42% derive from this second wave. Linguists and biologists have reached a similar conclusion based on analysis of Amerindian language groups and ABO blood group system distributions. Then the people of
8208-477: The island would have been supplied with Blacks of a more docile tractable disposition and better inclined to peace and agriculture. Colonists later devised ways of separating Coromantins from each other by housing them separately, placing them with other enslaved people, and stricter monitoring. Since groups such as the Igbos were hardly reported to have been maroons, Igbo women were paired with Coromantee men to subdue
8316-542: The latter due to the idea that Igbo women were bound to their first-born sons' birthplace. Thirty-three newly arrived Coromantins killed at least 19 whites in Westmoreland Parish , Jamaica. It was discovered when a young enslaved girl gave up their plans. All of the conspirators were either executed or sold. The Second Maroon War of 1795–1796 was an eight-month conflict between the Maroons of Trelawney Town,
8424-484: The leader of the Western Maroons, Cudjoe (Prince Kojo), signed a treaty with the British, ensuring the Maroons would be left alone, provided they did not help other slave rebellions. On the night of 6 April 1712, a group of more than twenty black enslaved people, the majority of whom were believed to be Coromantee, set fire to a building on Maiden Lane near Broadway. While the white traffickers tried to put out
8532-604: The mainland, while Nordostrundingen , in Greenland, is the most easterly point of the continental shelf. South America broke off from the west of the supercontinent Gondwana around 135 million years ago, forming its own continent. Around 15 million years ago, the collision of the Caribbean Plate and the Pacific Plate resulted in the emergence of a series of volcanoes along the border that created
8640-515: The new Christian names of Caesar and Clemene, even though Imoinda's beauty has attracted the unwanted desires of other enslaved people and the Cornish gentleman, Trefry. Upon Imoinda's pregnancy, Oroonoko petitions for their return to the homeland. But after being continuously ignored, he organizes a slave revolt. The enslaved people are hunted down by the military forces and compelled to surrender on Deputy Governor Byam's promise of amnesty. Yet, when
8748-521: The plot was discovered were 12 men and women of Akan origin. Seventy people were deported from New York. There is considerable historical debate as to how these fires were started. In 1760, another conspiracy known as Tacky's War was hatched. Long claims that almost all enslaved Coromantin on the island were involved without any suspicion from the whites. They planned to overthrow British rule and establish an African kingdom in Jamaica. Tacky and his forces were able to take over several plantations and kill
8856-595: The plot. Charleston authorities charged 131 men with conspiracy. In total, 67 men were convicted and 35 hanged, including Denmark Vesey. Quamina (Kwamina) Gladstone, a Coromantee enslaved man in British Guiana (now Guyana), and his son Jack Gladstone led the Demerara rebellion of 1823, one of the most significant slave revolts in the British colonies before slavery was abolished. He was a carpenter by trade and worked on an estate owned by Sir John Gladstone . He
8964-485: The present. The Spanish presence involved the enslavement of large numbers of the indigenous population of America. Diseases introduced from Europe and West Africa devastated the indigenous peoples , and the European powers colonized the Americas . Mass emigration from Europe , including large numbers of indentured servants , and importation of African slaves largely replaced the indigenous peoples in much of
9072-437: The rebellion, hanging the leader. Several rebels fled and joined the Maroons. Long also describes the incident where an enslaver was overpowered by a group of Coromantees who, after killing him, cut off his head and turned his skull into a drinking bowl. However, the "drinking of blood" is more than likely anti-African propaganda, though Coromantee and especially Asante war tactics were known to use fear in their opponents. In 1739,
9180-466: The revolt; scholars today are currently debating his possible origins. Bussa was likely a Coromantee, yet there is also reasonable speculation that he may have descended from the Igbo peoples of modern-day south-eastern Nigeria. It is also possible that Bussa had both ancestries since enslaved peoples trafficked before the rebellion (mid- to late 16th-century shift in colonial demand for enslaved Africans from
9288-413: The roof, and was in addition used as a slave prison . It is believed to have been the first of its kind in the Gold Coast . Slaves taken from this fort were said to have been named Coromantee . From 1705 to 1716, trade figures at the fort were given as 481 marks of gold and 149 slaves . There were complaints of little trade at other times as well. This was due to wars and also because the local chief
9396-499: The southerly Dixie Alley in the North American late-winter and early spring seasons. Often parts of the Caribbean are exposed to the violent effects of hurricanes. These weather systems are formed by the collision of dry, cool air from Canada and wet, warm air from the Atlantic. With coastal mountains and interior plains, the Americas have several large river basins that drain the continents. The largest river basin in North America
9504-473: The territories of the Americas under the colonial rule of European powers. In South America, Portugal played a significant role in the trafficking of enslaved Africans, with estimates suggesting that around 40% of all Africans forcibly brought to the Americas were taken to Brazil alone, to work primarily in sugar cane plantations, mining, and agricultural endeavors. In North America, the British Empire
9612-475: The three main demographic concepts: In accordance with these definitions, the three largest population centers in the Americas are: Mexico City , anchor to the largest metropolitan area in the Americas; New York City, anchor to the largest urban area in the Americas; and São Paulo, the largest city proper in the Americas. All three cities maintain Alpha classification and large scale influence. The population of
9720-533: The time of the first permanent European arrivals ( c. late 15th –early 16th centuries), and are known only through archeological investigations. Others were contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya, had their own written records. However, most Europeans of the time viewed such texts as pagan, and much was destroyed in Christian pyres. Only
9828-468: The treatment of enslaved people in the colonies had been passed, Jack had heard a rumour that their masters had received instructions to set them free but were refusing to do so. In the weeks before the revolt, he sought confirmation of the veracity of the rumours from other enslaved people, particularly those who worked for those in a position to know: he thus obtained information from Susanna, housekeeper/mistress of John Hamilton of Le Resouvenir; from Daniel,
9936-663: The use of West European languages: primarily Spanish , English , Portuguese , French , and, to a lesser extent, Dutch . The Americas are home to more than a billion inhabitants, two-thirds of whom reside in the United States , Brazil , and Mexico . It is home to eight megacities ( metropolitan areas with 10 million inhabitants or more): Greater Mexico City (21.2 million), São Paulo (21.2 million), New York City (19.7 million), Los Angeles (18.8 million), Buenos Aires (15.6 million), Rio de Janeiro (13.0 million), Bogotá (10.4 million), and Lima (10.1 million). The name "America"
10044-401: The white plantation owners. However, they were ultimately betrayed by an enslaved man named Yankee, whom Long describes as wanting to defend his master's house and "assist the white men". Yankee ran to the neighbouring estate and, with the help of another enslaved man, alerted the rest of the plantation owners. The British enlisted the help of Jamaican Maroons , who were themselves descendants of
10152-575: Was a colourful spectacle, but was for the Africans a ritual declaration of war on the white enslavers. Due to information obtained from other enslaved people, colonists discovered and suppressed the plot. Prince Klaas and four accomplices were caught and executed by the breaking wheel . They hung and starved six Africans and burnt another 58 at the stake. The site of these executions is now the Antigua Recreation Ground . In 1741,
10260-465: Was a conflict between Maroons in Jamaica and the colonial British authorities that reached a climax in 1731. In 1739–40, the British government in Jamaica recognized that it could not defeat the Maroons, so they agreed with them instead. The Maroons were to remain in their five main towns: Accompong , Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) , Moore Town (formerly New Nanny Town), Scott's Hall (Jamaica) and Charles Town, Jamaica , living under their own rulers and
10368-539: Was a man from Axim, Ghana, an Akan from the Ahanta. He was a soldier for the Germans until one day, he turned his back on them for his Ahanta people and sided with Nzima and Dutch Fante troops to take the area from the Germans and other Europeans. The news of his victory reached Jamaica, and he was celebrated ever since that Christmas of 1708 when he had first defeated German forces for Axim. Twenty years later, his stronghold
10476-432: Was at war with The Netherlands . Shirley captured the small Dutch forts at Moree ( Fort Nassau – 20 guns), Kormantin (Courmantyne – 32 guns), Apam ( Fort Lijdzaamheid or Fort Patience – 22 guns), Senya Beraku ( Fort Goede Hoop – 18 guns), and Accra ( Fort Crêvecoeur or Ussher Fort – 32 guns). In 1811, the people of Anomabo , who happened to be allies of the British attacked the fort, leaving it in ruins. It
10584-518: Was born in West Africa before being trafficked and enslaved. He led a revolt of more than 2,500 against the colony's regime. After acquiring firearms, the rebels attacked plantations. They gained an advantage after taking the house of Peerboom. They told the whites inside that they could leave, but the rebels killed many as they did and took several prisoners, including the wife of a plantation owner, whom Cuffy kept as his wife. After several months,
10692-574: Was broken by neighboring Fante forces supported by English merchants. This resulted in the Ahanta, Nzima and Asante warriors becoming captives of the Fante and being taken to Jamaica as prisoners of war, numbering some 20,000 men. Akans also shared the concept of the soul or day names . Evidence of this is seen in the names of several rebellion organizers such as Cuffy (Kofi), Cudjoe (Kojo), or Nanny (Nana) Bump. Names of some notable Coromantee leaders – such as Cudjoe, Cuffy, and Quamina – correspond to
10800-558: Was executed, and his body was hung up in chains by the side of a public road in front of Success. Before becoming enslaved, Coromantins were usually part of highly organized and stratified Akan groups such as the Asante Empire and the Fante Confederacy. Akan states were not all the same, but the 40 groups in the mid-17th century shared a common political language and culture. These groups also had shared mythology – and
10908-566: Was first recorded in 1507. A two-dimensional globe created by Martin Waldseemüller was the earliest recorded use of the term. The name was also used (together with the related term Amerigen ) in the Cosmographiae Introductio , apparently written by Matthias Ringmann , in reference to South America. It was applied to both North and South America by Gerardus Mercator in 1538. "America" derives from Americus ,
11016-440: Was heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade, with the establishment of colonies such as Virginia, where enslaved Africans were primarily used as labor in tobacco plantations and later in other agricultural and domestic sectors. This system perpetuated for centuries, shaping the socio-economic landscape of all nations of the hemisphere. After the Haitian Revolution led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines , which started in 1791 and
11124-585: Was implicated in the revolt by the colonial authorities, apprehended, and executed on 16 September 1823. He is considered a national hero in Guyana, and there are streets named after him in Georgetown and the village of Beterverwagting on the East Coast Demerara. On Monday, 18 August 1823, Quamina and Jack Gladstone, both enslaved on Success plantation – who had adopted the surname of their master by convention – led their peers to revolt against
11232-610: Was said to have leased the site to the British , and not the Dutch . The Dutch had no jurisdiction there, and the Cormantin people blocked their trade routes whenever it suited them, until the former had paid huge sums of money. Americas The Americas , sometimes collectively called America , known initially as India Nova , are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America . When viewed as
11340-570: Was subject to frequent raids by English and French pirates . On the continent, Panama City on the Pacific coast of Central America, founded on August 15, 1519, played an important role, being the base for the Spanish conquest of South America. Conquistador Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón established San Miguel de Guadalupe , the first European settlement in what is now the United States , on the Pee Dee River in South Carolina . During
11448-517: Was the Cuban War of Independence which became the Spanish–American War , which resulted in the independence of Cuba in 1898, and the transfer of sovereignty over Puerto Rico from Spain to the United States. Peaceful decolonization began with the United States's purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803, Florida from Spain in 1819, of Alaska from Russia in 1867, and the Danish West Indies from Denmark in 1916. Canada became independent of
11556-505: Was the only successful slave revolt in history, the world's first black republic was established. It started with the massacre of the white population, between 3,000 and 5,000 white men and women of all ages were killed. Dessalines declared: — Dessalines, first president of the Republic of Haiti, 1804 The most prevalent faiths in the Americas are as follows: Other faiths include Buddhism ; Hinduism ; Sikhism ; Baháʼí Faith ;
11664-488: Was unoccupied from then until its restoration in 1951 by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board . The town of Abandze has grown around the site of the fort today. It had a rectangular outline with two square and two round bastions at the corners. They were linked by curtain walls . There was a central courtyard . Arranged around it were a one-storeyed building on the west side, a two-storeyed building along
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