User:WillieP100/sandbox

Some scholars and historical reports have held that black or African tribes were present in the United States at and/or before the time of European contact, though this is not a mainstream position, and the genetic impact of such tribes on contemporary populations of African-Americans, if any, has not been established.

A number of scholars and historical reports have asserted that black or African peoples were present in the United States at and/or before the time of European contact, though this is not a mainstream academic position.

Turkish-French polymath Constantine Rafinesque in ‘The Primitive Black Nations of America’ (1832) wrote the following: “To many, this fact of old black nations of America will be new, yet it is an important feature of American history. I will here merely enumerate the black tribes of which I have found evident remains in North and South America. . .10.) The Enslen or Esteros of New California, ugly blackish Negroes. See Vanegas, Langsdorf. 11.) The Black Indians met by the Spaniards in Louisiana in 1543. See Soto's invasion 12.) The Moon-eyed Negroes, and Albinos, destroyed by the the Cherokees . . . The origins and annals of the black nations, and of the American nations, were two subjects quite obscure and neglected, or the least known, of the history of mankind. Nobody has undertaken, as yet, the history of the Negro nations: a labor so difficult and luckless as to be despised.”

French biologist Armand de Quatrefages stated in his work L'Espèce Humaine (The Human Species) that "black populations have been found in America in very small numbers only, and as isolated tribes in the midst of very different nations. Such are the Charruas of Brazil, the black Carabees of Saint Vincent in the Gulf of Mexico, the Jamassi of Florida, the dark-complexioned Californians, who are, perhaps, the dark men mentioned in Quiché traditions, and by some old Spanish adventurers . . . it is evident that these more or less pure black elements have been brought from the Asiatic Archipelagos and from Africa through some accident at sea."

In a catalogue of Native American tribes published with the 1890 US Census, the Yamasee Indians of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina are described as "one of a small number of isolated tribes, found widely scattered throughout North and South America. Supposed to have been immigrants from Africa prior to the European discovery of America. If this is be so, it explains why D'Aylon persisted in slave hunting about Beaufort (1520), these negroes being valuable as laborers, while the Indians were worthless. It were strange, too, if negroes first occupied this section where they now predominate."

In a 1903 hearing before the US Industrial Commission on Agriculture and Agricultural Labor, James Henry "Harry" Hammond, Jr., a University of Georgia professor, medical doctor, and son of James Henry Hammond, testified that Yamasee Indians of Beaufort, South Carolina and the surrounding Sea Islands region had "different hair" and were of African origin. Hammond said that Spanish conquistadors raided Yamasee territory for "Indian negro" slaves in the early 16th century, finding them to be valuable workers compared to other indigenous groups, and transported them to the West Indies "to experiment with." Hammond stated that the Yamasee "were known afterwards as the fiercest of the Indian tribes of the South."

Barnard Shipp, from ‘The History of Hernando de Soto and Florida; or, Record of the events of fifty-six years, from 1512-1568’ wrote “During the three days that the Spaniards recruited themselves, they saw on the last day about noon, coming from a place full of reeds, seven boats which advanced towards them. There was, in the first, a very large and black Indian of an aspect very different from those who inhabit the interior of the country. The barbarians of the coast are black in this manner, because the sun is there warmer than elsewhere, and because they are continually in the water, which is salt. . .the Indian placed himself on the prow of the vessel, and in a voice full of haughtiness told the Spaniards, according to what the interpreter asserted, that they were robbers; what did they seek upon the coast; and that they should leave it in haste, by one of the mouths of the Chucagua [Mississippi River], otherwise he would burn their brigantines and put them all to a miserable death. This barbarian, without waiting for an answer, returned to whence he had come.”

Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, in a letter to King Francis I on his encounter in 1524 with native people at what is now Indian Beach North Carolina reported that ‘they are black in color, not much unlike Ethiopians, and their hair is black and bushy, not very long, tied behind the head in a small tail. They are well proportioned, of medium stature, a little taller than we are, with broad chests, strong arms, and other parts of the body well composed. They tend to be broad in the face, but not all, for we saw many with angular faces. They have big black eyes, and an attentive and open look. They possess acute intelligence and are agile and excellent runners.’

John Smith, in ‘The Generall Historie of New England, Virginia & the Summer Isles,’ wrote the following description of Virginia Indians: “At last they brought him to Meronocomo, where was Powhatan their Emperor. . .two days after, Powhatan. . .caused Capt. Smith to be brought forth to a great house in the woods, and there upon a mat by the fire to be left alone. . .then Powhatan, more like a devill than a man, with some two hundred more as blacke as himselfe, came unto him and told him now they were friends, and presently he should go to James towne, to send him two great gunnes, and a gryndstone, for which he would give him the County of Capahowosick, and forever esteeme him as his sonne Nantaquod.”

Jean Baptiste Léonard Durand (1742-1812), director of the Senegal Company wrote in his memoirs ‘A Voyage to Senegal,’ that “I shall add another reflection, of public utility. Blacks are a kind of men destined by nature to inhabit Africa and America; she has created them for burning regions; let us, therefore, take care not to oppose her views, or overthrow the barriers which she has established; but let us preserve their races in their natural purity, and not permit the Negroes to inhabit Europe."

Several Mexican scholars have also asserted a pre-Columbian black presence. Vicente Riva Palacio in ‘Mexico, a traves de los Siglos’ said “It is indisputable that in very ancient times, the negroes occupied Mexico. They brought their own religious cults and ideals.” Nicolás León, physician and archaeologist stated “The almost total extinction of the negroes during the time of the Spanish conquest and the memories of them in the most ancient traditions lead us to believe that the negroes were the first inhabitants of Mexico.” Alexander von Wuthenau, German-Mexican baron, ethnologist and art historian wrote that “the startling fact is that in all parts of Mexico, archaeological pieces representing negro or negroid people have been found, especially in archaic or pre-Classic sites.” Carlos Cuervo Marquez, Mexican ethnologist and historian, stated “The Negro type is seen in the most ancient Mexican sculpture. The Negroes figure frequently in the most remote traditions of some American pueblos. . . it is to this race doubtlessly belongs the most ancient skeletons, distinct from the red American race, which have been found in various places from Bolivia to Mexico.”

Turkish-French polymath Constantine Rafinesque in ‘The Primitive Black Nations of America’ (1832) wrote the following: “To many, this fact of old black nations of America will be new, yet it is an important feature of American history. I will here merely enumerate the black tribes of which I have found evident remains in North and South America. . .10.) The Enslen or Esteros of New California, ugly blackish Negroes. See Vanegas, Langsdorf. 11.) The Black Indians met by the Spaniards in Louisiana in 1543. See Soto's invasion 12.) The Moon-eyed Negroes, and Albinos, destroyed by the the Cherokees . . . The origins and annals of the black nations, and of the American nations, were two subjects quite obscure and neglected, or the least known, of the history of mankind. Nobody has undertaken, as yet, the history of the Negro nations: a labor so difficult and luckless as to be despised.”

French biologist Armand de Quatrefages stated in his work L'Espèce Humaine (The Human Species) that "black populations have been found in America in very small numbers only, and as isolated tribes in the midst of very different nations. Such are the Charruas of Brazil, the black Carabees of Saint Vincent in the Gulf of Mexico, the Jamassi of Florida, the dark-complexioned Californians, who are, perhaps, the dark men mentioned in Quiché traditions, and by some old Spanish adventurers . . . it is evident that these more or less pure black elements have been brought from the Asiatic Archipelagos and from Africa through some accident at sea."

In a catalogue of Native American tribes published with the 1890 US Census, the Yamasee Indians of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina are described as "one of a small number of isolated tribes, found widely scattered throughout North and South America. Supposed to have been immigrants from Africa prior to the European discovery of America. If this is be so, it explains why D'Aylon persisted in slave hunting about Beaufort (1520), these negroes being valuable as laborers, while the Indians were worthless. It were strange, too, if negroes first occupied this section where they now predominate."

In a 1903 hearing before the US Industrial Commission on Agriculture and Agricultural Labor, James Henry "Harry" Hammond, Jr., a University of Georgia professor, medical doctor, and son of James Henry Hammond, testified that Yamasee Indians of Beaufort, South Carolina and the surrounding Sea Islands region had "different hair" and were of African origin. Hammond said that Spanish conquistadors raided Yamasee territory for "Indian negro" slaves in the early 16th century, finding them to be valuable workers compared to other indigenous groups, and transported them to the West Indies "to experiment with." Hammond stated that the Yamasee "were known afterwards as the fiercest of the Indian tribes of the South."

Barnard Shipp, from ‘The History of Hernando de Soto and Florida; or, Record of the events of fifty-six years, from 1512-1568’ wrote “During the three days that the Spaniards recruited themselves, they saw on the last day about noon, coming from a place full of reeds, seven boats which advanced towards them. There was, in the first, a very large and black Indian of an aspect very different from those who inhabit the interior of the country. The barbarians of the coast are black in this manner, because the sun is there warmer than elsewhere, and because they are continually in the water, which is salt. . .the Indian placed himself on the prow of the vessel, and in a voice full of haughtiness told the Spaniards, according to what the interpreter asserted, that they were robbers; what did they seek upon the coast; and that they should leave it in haste, by one of the mouths of the Chucagua [Mississippi River], otherwise he would burn their brigantines and put them all to a miserable death. This barbarian, without waiting for an answer, returned to whence he had come.”

Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, in a letter to King Francis I on his encounter in 1524 with native people at what is now Indian Beach North Carolina reported that ‘they are black in color, not much unlike Ethiopians, and their hair is black and bushy, not very long, tied behind the head in a small tail. They are well proportioned, of medium stature, a little taller than we are, with broad chests, strong arms, and other parts of the body well composed. They tend to be broad in the face, but not all, for we saw many with angular faces. They have big black eyes, and an attentive and open look. They possess acute intelligence and are agile and excellent runners.’

John Smith, in ‘The Generall Historie of New England, Virginia & the Summer Isles,’ wrote the following description of Virginia Indians: “At last they brought him to Meronocomo, where was Powhatan their Emperor. . .two days after, Powhatan. . .caused Capt. Smith to be brought forth to a great house in the woods, and there upon a mat by the fire to be left alone. . .then Powhatan, more like a devill than a man, with some two hundred more as blacke as himselfe, came unto him and told him now they were friends, and presently he should go to James towne, to send him two great gunnes, and a gryndstone, for which he would give him the County of Capahowosick, and forever esteeme him as his sonne Nantaquod.”

Jean Baptiste Léonard Durand (1742-1812), director of the Senegal Company wrote in his memoirs ‘A Voyage to Senegal,’ that “I shall add another reflection, of public utility. Blacks are a kind of men destined by nature to inhabit Africa and America; she has created them for burning regions; let us, therefore, take care not to oppose her views, or overthrow the barriers which she has established; but let us preserve their races in their natural purity, and not permit the Negroes to inhabit Europe."

Several Mexican scholars have also asserted a pre-Columbian black presence. Vicente Riva Palacio in ‘Mexico, a traves de los Siglos’ said “It is indisputable that in very ancient times, the negroes occupied Mexico. They brought their own religious cults and ideals.” Nicolás León, physician and archaeologist stated “The almost total extinction of the negroes during the time of the Spanish conquest and the memories of them in the most ancient traditions lead us to believe that the negroes were the first inhabitants of Mexico.” Alexander von Wuthenau, German-Mexican baron, ethnologist and art historian wrote that “the startling fact is that in all parts of Mexico, archaeological pieces representing negro or negroid people have been found, especially in archaic or pre-Classic sites.” Carlos Cuervo Marquez, Mexican ethnologist and historian, stated “The Negro type is seen in the most ancient Mexican sculpture. The Negroes figure frequently in the most remote traditions of some American pueblos. . . it is to this race doubtlessly belongs the most ancient skeletons, distinct from the red American race, which have been found in various places from Bolivia to Mexico.”