Yanga — Part 2: The War Spain Could Not Win

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Gaspar Yanga — Part 2

They sent five hundred and fifty soldiers. Spain could not win. Nine years of stalemate. And then Yanga negotiated his people's freedom.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • Describe the Spanish military assault of January 1609 — including the size and composition of the force Spain sent to destroy Yanga's settlement
  • Identify Francisco de la Matosa and explain his role as the military commander who led Yanga's defense against the Spanish army
  • Explain how Yanga's forces used guerrilla warfare and forty years of terrain knowledge to withstand a professional Spanish military force
  • Analyze the nine-year stalemate between Yanga's free settlement and the Spanish colonial government and explain what it reveals about the power of organized African resistance
  • Evaluate the 1618 Treaty of Córdoba and explain its significance as the founding document of the first legally recognized free Black town in the Americas
  • Assess the meaning of Yanga's erasure from mainstream history and explain why his story represents a direct challenge to colonial historical narratives

Key Vocabulary

  • Spanish Military Assault (1609) — In January 1609, the Spanish colonial government of New Spain dispatched a force of five hundred and fifty soldiers — trained regulars, mercenaries, and adventurers — from Puebla to destroy Yanga's free settlement. [1][2][7]
  • Francisco de la Matosa — An Angolan warrior who joined Yanga's settlement around 1600 and commanded the military defense of the palenque during the 1609 Spanish assault. De la Matosa led approximately one hundred fighters with firearms and four hundred more armed with machetes, bows, arrows, and stones. [2][3][7]
  • Guerrilla Warfare — A military strategy using unconventional tactics — ambushes, raids, and knowledge of terrain — against a larger, more conventionally armed enemy force. Yanga's defenders used forty years of knowledge of the mountain terrain around Veracruz to wage guerrilla warfare against the Spanish army. [1][2][7]
  • Stalemate — A situation in which neither side in a conflict can achieve victory. After the 1609 assault, Spain and Yanga's settlement remained in a nine-year stalemate — Spain unable to destroy the settlement, Yanga unable to force Spain's full withdrawal — until Spain agreed to negotiate in 1618. [1][2]
  • San Lorenzo de los Negros — The name of the free Black town chartered in 1618 following the treaty between Yanga and the Spanish colonial government of New Spain. It was the first legally recognized free Black town in the Americas. Yanga became its governor. The town was later renamed Yanga and still exists today in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. [1][2][3]
  • Self-Rule — Yanga's demand — and achievement — that his community govern itself independently of Spanish colonial authority. The 1618 treaty granted San Lorenzo de los Negros the right to self-governance, making it not merely a recognized settlement but an autonomous political community led by Yanga as governor. [1][2]
  • Governor — The title Yanga held after the 1618 treaty recognized San Lorenzo de los Negros. An African man who had been captured and enslaved became the legally recognized governor of a free town in the Americas — decades before any other person in this hemisphere achieved legal freedom through treaty. [1][2]
  • Erasure — The deliberate or systematic exclusion of a historical figure, event, or community from mainstream historical education and records. Yanga's story has been erased from nearly every history textbook in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. [1][2][3]
  • New Spain — The colonial territory established by Spain in the Americas, encompassing present-day Mexico, Central America, and parts of the southwestern United States. Yanga's revolt and the 1618 treaty took place within New Spain. [1][2][4]
  • Palenque — A fortified settlement established by escaped enslaved Africans — cimarrones — in colonial Latin America. Yanga's palenque survived for over forty years in the mountains of Veracruz, withstanding Spain's military assault and ultimately earning legal recognition as a free town. [1][2][5]

The Full Lesson

Part 1 — Spain Finally Moves

In January 1609 — nearly forty years after Yanga's revolt — Spain finally sent an army. Five hundred and fifty soldiers marched from Puebla: trained regulars, mercenaries, adventurers. All of them armed. All of them ordered to destroy what Yanga had built. [1][2][7]

Yanga was too old to fight. So he handed command to Francisco de la Matosa — an Angolan warrior who had joined the settlement nearly a decade earlier, bringing his own fighters with him. De la Matosa led one hundred fighters with firearms and four hundred more armed with machetes, bows, arrows, and stones. Five hundred fighters total. Against five hundred and fifty. In the mountains. On terrain they had known for forty years. [2][3][7]

Part 2 — The Defense

They used forty years of knowledge of that terrain to wage guerrilla warfare. When the Spanish came, Yanga's people did not stand and fight on Spain's terms. They burned their own village — denying Spain the victory of destroying it — and melted into the mountains. And then they fought back. [1][2][7]

Spain burned what was left of the settlement. Spain could not find the people. Spain could not force a surrender. The mountain worked against them at every turn. The soldiers who had marched confidently from Puebla could not win. [1][2]

"Spain could not win."

Part 3 — Nine Years of Stalemate

Nine years. Nine years of stalemate. Spain with its professional army and colonial resources. Yanga with his guerrilla fighters and mountain terrain. Neither side could force a final outcome. Spain could not destroy the settlement permanently. Yanga could not force Spain's full recognition or withdrawal. [1][2]

For nine years, a free African community in the mountains of colonial Mexico held a European empire to a standstill. That fact alone should be in every history book in the world. It is in almost none. [1][2][3]

"Nine years of stalemate. A free African community held a European empire to a standstill."

Part 4 — The Negotiation

In 1618 Spain came to the table. Not as a victor. As a party that had failed to win. Yanga negotiated his people's freedom directly with the colonial government of New Spain. He demanded recognition of their settlement. He demanded self-rule. He got it. [1][2]

In 1618 the town was chartered. Named San Lorenzo de los Negros. The first legally recognized free Black town in the Americas. Gaspar Yanga became its governor. An African king. On his own land. In the Americas. Decades before anyone else in this hemisphere was legally free. [1][2][3]

"An African king. On his own land. In the Americas."

Part 5 — The Erasure

They could not defeat him on the battlefield. So they did something worse. They erased him. Gaspar Yanga — the man who held Spain to a nine-year stalemate, who negotiated the first legally recognized free Black town in the Americas, who governed that town as its first leader — does not appear in the textbooks used in most American, Latin American, or European schools. [1][2][3]

The erasure is not accidental. A Black man who defeated a European empire is incompatible with the story colonial education systems were built to tell. Which is exactly why you need to know it. [1][2][3]

Part 6 — The Legacy

Part 3 drops next. But before it does — remember this. San Lorenzo de los Negros still exists. It was renamed Yanga. It still stands in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, as the oldest free Black settlement in the Americas still inhabited today. They could erase his name from the textbooks. They could not erase the town. [1][2][3]

"They couldn't erase the town."

Critical Thinking Discussion Questions

  1. Spain sent five hundred and fifty professional soldiers to destroy Yanga's settlement in 1609. [1][2][7] Yanga's forces held Spain to a nine-year stalemate. What does this outcome reveal about the relationship between military force and the will to remain free?
  2. Francisco de la Matosa commanded Yanga's military defense with one hundred fighters armed with firearms and four hundred more with machetes, bows, and stones. [2][3][7] What does de la Matosa's leadership reveal about the organizational sophistication of Yanga's free community?
  3. Yanga's defenders burned their own village rather than let Spain destroy it on Spain's terms. [1][2] What does this decision reveal about Yanga's military strategy — and about the difference between winning on your own terms versus losing on your enemy's terms?
  4. The 1618 treaty required Yanga's community to return newly escaped enslaved people to Spanish custody in exchange for official recognition of their freedom. [1][2] Was this an acceptable compromise? Defend your answer with specific details from the lesson.
  5. Yanga's story has been erased from nearly every history textbook in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. [1][2][3] Who benefits from that erasure — and who is harmed by it?

Quiz — Gaspar Yanga — Part 2

Part A: Circle the best answer. Part B: Write in complete sentences.

Part A — Multiple Choice

  1. How many soldiers did Spain send to destroy Yanga's settlement in January 1609?
    A) 50
    B) 200
    C) 550
    D) 1,000
  2. Who commanded Yanga's military defense during the 1609 Spanish assault?
    A) Gaspar Yanga himself
    B) Francisco de la Matosa, an Angolan warrior
    C) A Spanish defector who joined the settlement
    D) A Kuba Kingdom warrior
  3. What military strategy did Yanga's forces use against the Spanish army?
    A) They surrendered immediately to avoid bloodshed
    B) They built a stone fortress and fought from behind its walls
    C) They burned their own village and used guerrilla warfare in the mountains
    D) They negotiated a truce before any fighting began
  4. How long did the stalemate between Yanga's settlement and Spain last after the 1609 assault?
    A) 1 year
    B) 3 years
    C) 9 years
    D) 25 years
  5. What was the name of the free Black town chartered by the 1618 treaty?
    A) Yanga
    B) Veracruz
    C) San Lorenzo de los Negros
    D) Córdoba
  6. What position did Gaspar Yanga hold after the 1618 treaty?
    A) He was imprisoned by Spain
    B) He became governor of San Lorenzo de los Negros
    C) He returned to Africa
    D) He was appointed a Spanish colonial official
  7. Why has Yanga's story been excluded from most history textbooks according to the lesson?
    A) His story is not well documented enough to teach
    B) His story is too complicated for students to understand
    C) A Black man who defeated a European empire contradicts the narratives colonial education systems were built to tell
    D) His story has been included in textbooks but students do not read carefully enough

Part B — Short Answer

  1. Francisco de la Matosa led Yanga's defense with one hundred fighters armed with firearms and four hundred more with machetes, bows, and stones against five hundred and fifty professional Spanish soldiers. Using at least two specific details from the lesson, explain how Yanga's forces were able to hold Spain to a nine-year stalemate despite being outgunned.
  2. The 1618 treaty between Yanga and Spain established San Lorenzo de los Negros as the first legally recognized free Black town in the Americas. Using at least two specific details from the lesson, explain what made this achievement historically significant.
  3. The lesson argues that Yanga's erasure from history textbooks is not accidental. Using at least two specific details from the lesson, explain why Yanga's story is incompatible with the historical narratives that colonial education systems were built to tell.

Extension Activity

Trace the Origin: Research the Quilombo dos Palmares in Brazil — the largest free African settlement in the Americas, which survived for nearly a century before being destroyed by Portuguese forces in 1694. Describe: (1) when and how it was founded, (2) how it was governed and how large it grew, (3) how it ended. Then write two to three sentences comparing Palmares to Yanga's settlement and explaining what both communities reveal about African resistance to enslavement in the Americas.

Sources & Footnotes

  1. [1] Davidson, John. "Gaspar Yanga: The African Who Founded the First Free Town in the Americas." Face2Face Africa, 2018.
  2. [2] "Gaspar Yanga." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Overview of Yanga's origins, the palenque, the 1609 Spanish assault, and the Treaty of Córdoba.
  3. [3] "Yanga, Veracruz." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Documentation of the town named after Yanga and its status as the oldest free African settlement in the Americas.
  4. [4] Carroll, Patrick J. Blacks in Colonial Veracruz: Race, Ethnicity, and Regional Development. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.
  5. [5] Wheat, David. Atlantic Africa and the Spanish Caribbean, 1570–1640. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2016.
  6. [6] "Cimarron." Encyclopædia Britannica. Definition and historical context of cimarron communities in colonial Latin America.
  7. [7] Love, Edgar F. "Negro Resistance to Spanish Rule in Colonial Mexico." Journal of Negro History, 52(2), 1967.
  8. [8] "San Lorenzo de los Negros." Digital Encyclopedia of the Black Atlantic. Documentation of the 1618 Treaty of Córdoba.

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