The latest book in Brill’s Caribbean Series is Beatriz Carolina Peña’s 26 Years a Slave: Juan Miranda and Other “Spanish Negroes” in Colonial New York, the fascinating story of Juan Miranda, a free man from Cartagena, on the Caribbean cost of Colombia. While still a teenager, corsairs from Curaçao captured him on a ship off the coast of Venezuela around 1733. Miranda was imprisoned on the Dutch island; however, an English captain freed him and, with false promises, took him to New York City, where he was then enslaved for many years.
The original Spanish edition of this book, 26 Años de esclavitud. Juan Miranda y otros negros españoles en la Nueva York colonial (Universidad del Rosario, 2021) received multiple awards. However, as Brill clarifies, 26 Years a Slave is not just a translation of the critically acclaimed publication, but rather a revised enriched version, containing a selection of additional study cases.
Description (Brill): 26 Years a Slave represents the inaugural book-length study of the little-known “Spanish Negroes,” or non-white Spanish-speaking sailors enslaved in colonial North America. Bringing to light their history of slavery and resistance, the book tells the incredible story of the free-born Juan Miranda. Enslaved in New York, Miranda fights an arduous legal battle to win his freedom. His attorney, William Kempe, makes a strong case for his rights and against slavery based on skin color. This well-illustrated account touches on legal history, the War of Jenkins’ Ear, and the so-called “Slave Plot” of 1741. [. . .]
For more information, see https://brill.com/display/title/72088