We’ve had this discussion before in regards to this and everything seems to be correct except, and correct me if I’m wrong, but the Portuguese weren’t the ones who did the slave trading it was the British, it was the Portuguese that were the captains of the ships that brought them over to the US and/or the islands.
Linda Borges (Furtado) Norton _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Guida Leicester Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 12:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Azores were Black slaves Hi All, Very fascinting conversation. Below is written by James Guill. Note 2nd paragraph especially: "It is thought too that maybe the name for the Azore islands came from this statement written by Martin Behaim, the maker of the Nuremburg globe of 1492: "All birds found in the islands by the first settlers were so tame that they came to the hand like hawks." Another theory is that the word "raca" or "raka," meaning bird of prey in Arabic, was translated to the Portugese acor. Raca appeared in an Arab manuscript designating an island, or islands, in the same location as the Azores. The first settlers were a mixed group of people from the Portuguese provinces of Algarve and Minho. Also, Madeirans, Moorish prisoners, black slaves, French, Italians, Scots, English, and Flemings were among the early settlers. There were petty criminals, Spanish clergy, Jews, soldiers, government officials, European merchants and sugar cane growers. Almost all Azoreans are Catholic, but there are Protestants and a few Jews among the population." The Azores were a crossroads and stop off point for many from North, South, East and West. A "borderlands." I love this kind of history--all kinds of folks who we never hear about in history books made history...not just noblemen, who wrote history. Guida --- On Mon, 9/1/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Azores were Black slaves To: [email protected] Date: Monday, September 1, 2008, 8:41 AM In a message dated 9/1/2008 2:06:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: "Actually, it was from a very scholarly, well recognized, history of Atlantic slavery that I learned that most people in the Azores were Black slaves. When I asked on the Azores list 10 years ago they didn't mention upper crust people or French or English people living there." .... The above is of another forum that I am on now of which I am now "stunned" as to what to make of now. Please to enlighten me - can anyone? And I believe the reference as to the "Azores list" is the Rootsweb AZORES list which this forum was made possible because we of this forum left that list! --Manaia There were certainly slaves in the Azores, but they were a tiny minority, unlike Virginia before the Civil war that had more slaves than whites. The vast majority of the people in the Azores did not own slaves and the vast majority of those who did had one, two or three slaves. Figuring out how many slaves were in the Azores is much easier than finding out how many Jews lived in the Azores. Why? Because the slave owners made sure that their slaves and the children of slaves were baptized. Thus one finds many entries that go like this: Maria, daughter of Inês, slave of Captain Simão Dias, and of an unknown father, was baptized .... In the case of adult slaves being baptized, some of the records say what part of Africa the slave was from. There have been some historians who state that the aristocrats from the Azores who accompanied the Captain Donatory to fight the Moors in Africa, brought back slaves with them. In 1648 my 8th great grandfather, Matias da Costa, was born in Ginetes to Úrsula, the slave of Maria Ferreira, widow of Gaspar Fernandes. In 1679 the same Matias "slave of the heirs of Maria Ferreira," married Isabel Carvalho, a free woman, daughter of António Costa and Maria Carvalho. Ironically, Úrsula's mistress, Maria Ferreira is the daughter of another of my ancestors, Margarida Ferreira and her husband Gaspar Gonsalves. Although slaves in the Azores were very few, we must not forget that for a while Portugal was the leading slave trader in the world. In posts to the Portugal list, this discussion has often been met with outrage and outright denial despite the irrefutable historical evidence. Pinheiro Chagas writes that in the mid 16th century, in Lisbon with a population of 100,000, there were 10,000 slaves! I hope this helps. John Miranda Raposo --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
