- Afro-Uruguayan
Infobox Ethnic group
group= flagicon|African Union Afro Uruguayan flagicon|Uruguay
poptime= 57,000 [cite web |url=http://www.joshuaproject.net/peoples.php?rop3=210551 |title=Afro-Uruguayan |accessdate=2008-08-25 |work=Joshua Project |publisher=U.S. Center for World Mission ]
4% of Uruguay's population
popplace=Uruguay
langs= Spanish
rels= Catholic
related= OtherAfro-Latin American Afro-Uruguayan refers to
Uruguay ans of Black African ancestry. They are mostly found inMontevideo .History
It is often asserted in the academic literature on Uruguay that the presence and role of Africans in the development of this nation are overlooked. However, Afro-Uruguayans greatly contributed to their country’s economy, society, and culture. First, they were the slaves, peons, and artisans whose toils allowed for Uruguay’s economic development between the
seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Second, African Uruguayans were the soldiers whose blood and sacrifices forged an independent nation-state from aSpanish colony , and defended that independence from foreign invaders, firstGreat Britain and thenBrazil , during the first decades of the nineteenth century. Third, black Uruguayans were the musicians, writers, and artists whose works enriched, enlightened, and entertained their fellow citizens from colonial times to the present. Moreover, even the very symbols of nationhood in the River Plate, namely, the tango and thegaucho (cowboy ), were influenced by the genius of Africans and their New-World descendants.For most of the colonial period, the port of
Buenos Aires (see contribution onAfro-Argentine s) served as the exclusive entry point forAfrican slaves in theRiver Plate . Spanish mercantilism sought to limit the ready access of slaves and other goods entering theNew World by strictly regulating trade. Slaves entering the port of Buenos Aires, after passing a health inspection, where then regularly shipped inland, to Córdoba and the northwestern provinces ofSalta andTucumán , across theAndes Mountains to Chile (see contribution onAfro-Chilean s), and to the mines ofPotosí inAlto Perú (nowBolivia ). The dearth of native workers in the region (unlike inMexico andPeru ), the Spanish elite’s disdain for manual labor, the need for domestic servants as social-status symbols, and the constant demands for manpower in the mines ofPotosí combined to stimulate the trans-Atlantic and internal slave trades in the River Plate during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Exact figures of African slave arrivals in Uruguay for the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries are imprecise, largely because of the contraband slave trade.Candombe and it's Origins
Candombe's origins lie in the "Kings of Congo" ceremonial processions from the period of African slavery in
South America . Candombe is related to other musical forms of African origin found in the Americas such asCuba n son andtumba and Brazilianmaracatu and congadas. The form had evolved by the beginning of the 19th century and was immediately seen as a threat to the elites, who sought to ban the music and itsdance in 1808. Candombe is what survives of the ancestral heritage of Bantu roots, brought by the blacks arriving at theRío de la Plata . This rhythm traveled to Uruguay from Africa with black slaves, and is still going strong in the streets, halls and carnivals of this small enchanting country.Notable Afro-Uruguayans
*
Richard Morales Uruguayan Soccer player
*Rubén Rada singer
*Mario Regueiro Uruguayan Soccer player
*Víctor Rodríguez Andrade Uruguayan Soccer player
*Virginia Brindis de Salas poet
*Darío Silva Uruguayan Soccer player
*Marcelo Zalayeta Uruguayan Soccer playeree also
*
Candombe
*Afro-Latin American References
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