Afro-Salvadoran
Encyclopedia
Afro-Salvadoran are the small African population that came to El Salvador
, who have completely mixed into the general Mestizo
population in specific places. A total of 10,000 African slaves were brought to El Salvador. El Salvador has no English Antillean
(West Indian), Garifuna
, and Miskito
population, largely due to laws banning the immigration of blacks into the country in the 1930s, these laws were revoke in the 1980s.
indigenous population influenced a Royal Ordinance issued in 1541 that gave the Spanish land owners and miners permission to import African slaves into El Salvador. The New Laws did not officially come into effect in El Salvador until 1548 when the president of the "Jurisdiction of Los Confines" (which included El Salvador) freed all Native Indigenous slaves in the country and recommended that more Africans be brought to El Salvador to take the place of those who had been freed. Over the next seventy-five years upwards of 10,000 Africans were brought to work on the haciendas and in the mines of El Salvador. In 1635 the town of San Vicente was established by Spanish colonists and became an important center for the indigo trade. African slaves were brought here to work on nearby plantations. Several other towns also had African communities: Zacatecoluca (south of San Salvador), Chinameca (west of San Miguel), and Ahuachapan and Sonsonate (both west of San Salvador) all had sizable African populations at one time.
There is a growing population of Afro-Salvadorians in the city of Santa Ana and San Miguel since these are two of the second largest cities in El Salvador. Many have lived there for decades and have still reside in the barrios. The population of the Africans in Santa Ana is small but noticeable and which also gave the city the name "La Cuidad Morena". They are told apart from the indigenous by their physical features.
With the mixing of Spanish and African, Indigenous and African there arose free "mulatto
" and "zambo
" communities in a number of towns. Zambos are persons of mixed Native Indigenous and African ancestry. Some slaves attempted to gain their freedom by marrying into the native indigenous population. Laws were passed by the Spanish to prevent such Afro-Amerindian unions, but the mixing of the two groups could not be prevented. Slaves continued to marry indigenous with the idea that they might gain freedom, if not for themselves, then for their racially mixed offspring. The children of such unions were free under Spanish law. It's said that among Africans and indigenous during the colonial period, indigenous women would rather marry Africans than indigenous; and neither more or less, Africans preferred to marry indigenous women rather than African woman, so that their children will be born free. This resulted in the creation of the zambo population group. Mestizos, mulattoes and zambos eventually came to mix with each other and merged in to the much larger mestizo mixed European Spanish/Native Indigenous population. At the end of the colonial era the mixing of the various races in the country was well on its way in creating a population that no longer had strong ethnic identities as Native American, European
or African.
In 1625 a planned slave rebellion in San Salvador
was narrowly averted. As a result, Spanish colonial authorities became more reluctant to import any more slaves into the country then absolutely necessary. Throughout all of Central America there were growing free mulatto and Zambo populations. Together with cheap native labor, fewer slaves were brought to El Salvador and Central America after 1625 then during the previous century. A process of the mixing together in El Salvador of "mulatto", "zambo" and "mestizo" resulted in a population that was 31% of mixed ancestry by 1779. The census that year recorded "mulattos" and "mestizos" (together) as persons of mixed racial ancestry. This census reported 25,000 "mulattos and mestizos" living in the San Salvador area in that year.
At the time of independence (1821), the population of El Salvador was over 50% of mixed racial ancestry. Today the figure is over 90%. There are really only various "shades of brown" in the country with few extremes in color variation, but who are mostly of Mestizo ancestry European/American Indigenous.
instituted race laws in 1930 that prohibited blacks
from entering the country, this changed during the 1980s and the law was removed.
, has its origins in Africa and was brought to Guatemala
and the rest of Central America by African slaves during colonial times. The melodies played on it show Amerindian, African and European influences in both form and style. Salvadoran popular music, as well as its social dances, show strong connections to the rhythms of western and central Africa. The most popular social dances in El Salvador are those that have been adopted from the Afro-Caribbean rhythms and dances. The Cumbia
came from Colombia
, the Rumba
–Bolero
from Cuba
and the Merengue
from the Dominican Republic
. No Salvadoran social event is complete without the playing of these Afro-Caribbean dances. They are so completely integrated into Salvadoran life that they are today the most typical expressions of the popular musical traditions of the country. In their Salvadoran form they take on a style that is similar, yet different, from that which they originated.
Latin-American historian Hubert Herring wrote in his History of Latin America (1969) "In the nations of Latin America the white man, the red man, and the black man have met and merged with one another to form a new kind of people: José Vasconcelos
called it the raza
cosmica - the cosmic race." Perhaps in no other Latin American nation did the "merging" of these three racial groups become so complete.
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, who have completely mixed into the general Mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
population in specific places. A total of 10,000 African slaves were brought to El Salvador. El Salvador has no English Antillean
Antilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
(West Indian), Garifuna
Garifuna
The Garinagu are descendants of Carib, Arawak and West African people. The British colonial administration used the term Black Carib and Garinagu to distinguish them from Yellow and Red Carib, the Amerindian population that did not intermarry with Africans...
, and Miskito
Miskito
The Miskitos are a Native American ethnic group in Central America. A substantial number of them are mixed race, especially those in the northern end of their territory, where an African-Indigenous mixture was predominant. Their territory extends from Cape Camarón, Honduras, to Rio Grande,...
population, largely due to laws banning the immigration of blacks into the country in the 1930s, these laws were revoke in the 1980s.
History
The declining Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
indigenous population influenced a Royal Ordinance issued in 1541 that gave the Spanish land owners and miners permission to import African slaves into El Salvador. The New Laws did not officially come into effect in El Salvador until 1548 when the president of the "Jurisdiction of Los Confines" (which included El Salvador) freed all Native Indigenous slaves in the country and recommended that more Africans be brought to El Salvador to take the place of those who had been freed. Over the next seventy-five years upwards of 10,000 Africans were brought to work on the haciendas and in the mines of El Salvador. In 1635 the town of San Vicente was established by Spanish colonists and became an important center for the indigo trade. African slaves were brought here to work on nearby plantations. Several other towns also had African communities: Zacatecoluca (south of San Salvador), Chinameca (west of San Miguel), and Ahuachapan and Sonsonate (both west of San Salvador) all had sizable African populations at one time.
There is a growing population of Afro-Salvadorians in the city of Santa Ana and San Miguel since these are two of the second largest cities in El Salvador. Many have lived there for decades and have still reside in the barrios. The population of the Africans in Santa Ana is small but noticeable and which also gave the city the name "La Cuidad Morena". They are told apart from the indigenous by their physical features.
With the mixing of Spanish and African, Indigenous and African there arose free "mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
" and "zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
" communities in a number of towns. Zambos are persons of mixed Native Indigenous and African ancestry. Some slaves attempted to gain their freedom by marrying into the native indigenous population. Laws were passed by the Spanish to prevent such Afro-Amerindian unions, but the mixing of the two groups could not be prevented. Slaves continued to marry indigenous with the idea that they might gain freedom, if not for themselves, then for their racially mixed offspring. The children of such unions were free under Spanish law. It's said that among Africans and indigenous during the colonial period, indigenous women would rather marry Africans than indigenous; and neither more or less, Africans preferred to marry indigenous women rather than African woman, so that their children will be born free. This resulted in the creation of the zambo population group. Mestizos, mulattoes and zambos eventually came to mix with each other and merged in to the much larger mestizo mixed European Spanish/Native Indigenous population. At the end of the colonial era the mixing of the various races in the country was well on its way in creating a population that no longer had strong ethnic identities as Native American, European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
or African.
In 1625 a planned slave rebellion in San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
was narrowly averted. As a result, Spanish colonial authorities became more reluctant to import any more slaves into the country then absolutely necessary. Throughout all of Central America there were growing free mulatto and Zambo populations. Together with cheap native labor, fewer slaves were brought to El Salvador and Central America after 1625 then during the previous century. A process of the mixing together in El Salvador of "mulatto", "zambo" and "mestizo" resulted in a population that was 31% of mixed ancestry by 1779. The census that year recorded "mulattos" and "mestizos" (together) as persons of mixed racial ancestry. This census reported 25,000 "mulattos and mestizos" living in the San Salvador area in that year.
At the time of independence (1821), the population of El Salvador was over 50% of mixed racial ancestry. Today the figure is over 90%. There are really only various "shades of brown" in the country with few extremes in color variation, but who are mostly of Mestizo ancestry European/American Indigenous.
Anti-black immigration laws in El Salvador
General Maximiliano Hernández MartínezMaximiliano Hernández Martínez
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez was the President of El Salvador from 1931 to 1944...
instituted race laws in 1930 that prohibited blacks
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
from entering the country, this changed during the 1980s and the law was removed.
African influence in Salvadoran culture
In the area of folk and popular music, the influences of Africa on El Salvador become very apparent. The national folk instrument, the marimbaMarimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, has its origins in Africa and was brought to Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and the rest of Central America by African slaves during colonial times. The melodies played on it show Amerindian, African and European influences in both form and style. Salvadoran popular music, as well as its social dances, show strong connections to the rhythms of western and central Africa. The most popular social dances in El Salvador are those that have been adopted from the Afro-Caribbean rhythms and dances. The Cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
came from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, the Rumba
Rumba
Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance that originated in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves and Spanish colonizers. The name derives from the Cuban Spanish word rumbo which means "party" or "spree". It is secular, with no...
–Bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and the Merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
from the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. No Salvadoran social event is complete without the playing of these Afro-Caribbean dances. They are so completely integrated into Salvadoran life that they are today the most typical expressions of the popular musical traditions of the country. In their Salvadoran form they take on a style that is similar, yet different, from that which they originated.
Latin-American historian Hubert Herring wrote in his History of Latin America (1969) "In the nations of Latin America the white man, the red man, and the black man have met and merged with one another to form a new kind of people: José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos Calderón was a Mexican writer, philosopher and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities in the development of modern Mexico. His philosophy of "indigenismo" affected all aspects of Mexican sociocultural, political, and economic...
called it the raza
Raza
Raza may refer to:*Raza , a 1942 Spanish film*S. H. Raza , an Indian artist*Raheel Raza , a Canadian Muslim author and feminist*Raza Longknife, a Marvel comic book character...
cosmica - the cosmic race." Perhaps in no other Latin American nation did the "merging" of these three racial groups become so complete.