The Misfortunes and Return of Briton Hammon (1747- 1760): Introduction and Translation
- Beatriz Carolina Peña
Abstract
Considered the first autobiographical account of an Afrodescendant slave published in America, A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings, and Surprizing Deliverance of Briton Hammon, a Negro Man (Boston 1760) has not yet been translated into Spanish. This work, encompassing shipwreck, Native American captivity, slavery in Cuba, and slavery in Massachusetts, is of interest to Spanish-speaking scholars not only for its foundational character but also because Havana is a key location in Briton Hammon's captivity story. The text reflects the tense relationship between the Hispanic Caribbean and the British colonies in America in the 18th century. The following pages offer a translation and an introductory study of the same.
Keywords
autobiography, slavery, Indian captivity, colonial British America, colonial Spanish Caribbean, eighteenth century
Author Biography
Beatriz Carolina Peña
Beatriz Carolina Peña es profesora titular en Queens College (The City University of New York). Últimas publicaciones: 26 años de esclavitud: Juan Miranda y otros negros españoles en la Nueva York colonial (Bogotá: Universidad del Rosario, 2021); «La Reina de Cochasquí y los caciques Pende y Jumandy: rebeliones indígenas subyugadas en la celebración del nacimiento de don Baltazar Carlos (Quito, 1631)», en El tablado, la calle, la fiesta teatral en el Siglo de Oro, ed. Miguel Zugasti y Aña Zúñiga Lacruz (Castelló de la Plana: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I, 2021), 233-257; y «‘Ella te aplastará la cabeza’: Santa María de Guadalupe vence a la serpiente en la fiesta de Potosí (1601)», RECIAL, n° 22 (2022): 198-235. beatriz.pena@qc.cuny.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6150-8209.
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