San Basilio de Palenque, The First Free Town in America (San Basilio de Palenque, El Primer Pueblo Libre de América)

There are some really amazing stories regarding independence and freedom in Latin America, but what if I told you that the episode you're about to listen to is about the first settlement to gain freedom in ALL of the Americas (North AND South America): San Basilio de Palenque.Located on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Cartagena was one of the main slave hubs of the continent, and a place where thousands of African men and women disembarked every year to be sold to colonists that needed manpower for their land and homes. And this slavery was brutal - these peoples from the Congo, Angola, Guinea, and Senegal.But a ray of hope appeared in the form of a man: a rebel leader named Benkos Biohó, who decided to take a group of slaves (including his family) and escape to a new place, a new village, where freedom would be born in the Americas, and inevitable change would begin in a place called San Basilio de Palenque... find out more in this week's episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast!Transcript of this episode is available at: https://podcast.lingomastery.com/listen/5066