Gaspar Yanga

Gaspar Yanga, also called simply Yanga or Ñanga, was a Central African man who led a maroon colony of enslaved Africans in the highlands near Veracruz, New Spain during the early period of Spanish colonial rule. In 1609, Yanga led a successful rebellion against a Spanish attack on the maroon colony. Through negotiation with Spanish colonial authorities Yanga achieved freedom for the maroon and the right to self-rule sometime between 1618 and 1641. The settlement was called San Lorenzo de los Negros, and was the first free town in the Americas.