Corsairs, Cimarrons, and the Fight Against Spanish Empire
Speaker: Brett Rushforth
University of Oregon
Author of Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France
Much has been written about the alliance between sixteenth-century English “sea dogs” and the Cimarrons, a powerful group of West Africans who escaped Spanish slavery and formed independent societies in Panama. Rushforth’s broadly transimperial lecture focuses on the French role in Cimmarons’ anti-Spanish partnerships to highlight their leadership and the importance of French seafarers in shaping the early Caribbean.