Who was the first African to Set Foot in What is Now the United States?

[NinjaPoodle]

Happy Black History Month!

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Pass the knowledge…

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Question:

Who was the first African to Set Foot in What is Now the United States?

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Estevanico, or Little Steven or Black Steve, a Moroccan born in Azamor around 1500, landed in Florida in 1528. He arrived with a Spanish expedition of 300 men looking for plunder and settlement. They came ashore in what is now Tampa, and fought their way through Native Americans to what is now Tallahassee. Only Estevaneco and three others survived. The four then began an incredible journey that would take them 2,500 miles over eight years.

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Crossing the continent, they were the first non-Indians to see Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma. More important, they opened Arizona and New Mexico to Spanish conquest. They finally arrived at the Spanish settlement in Mexico City, hardly recognizable after their trek. Estevanico was then sent to look for the legendary seven cities of Cibola in New Mexico, cities so rich they were supposedly constructed of gold. He traveled in opulent style, dressed in finery, preceded by his reputation as a medicine man with miraculous healing powers.

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Estevanico found the Zuni Pueblo in western New Mexico, and sent back word that he had discovered immeasurable riches. Unlike the Spaniards, he had befriended Indians and learned their languages; the Indians in turn treated him well because his black skin set him apart from the Europeans. But the Zuni were rightly fearful that he would bring others. They killed Estevanico near Hawikuh. When the Spaniards did come, they found no gold.

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Estevanico landed in Florida 100 years before the Pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock. The traditional history of America often downplays or even omits the role of Spaniards in early exploration and settlement. And Estevanico was not the only African to arrive with them. He was the first, however, to set foot in what is now the United States, the first to cross the continent, and the first to see the great American and Mexican Southwest.

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Source: Africana.com

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