Pedro Blanco (1795 – 1854) was a Spanish slave trader based in Gallinas on the coast of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

between 1822 and 1838. Before entering the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

, Blanco ran a sugar mill in

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. Blanco sailed to Africa on the ''Conquistador'', one of his ships, to participate in the lucrative and well-established

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. He began trading in African slaves in 1822, and by 1839 he controlled a network that fed Cuba, the United States and Brazil with slaves for plantations. Blanco expanded his operation by establishing a working relationship with the local ruler, African King Siaka of Gallinas (Vai). He eventually had agents stationed at Cape Mount, Shebar,

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, Nuevo Sestos and elsewhere. Blanco entered a partnership with one Lino Carballo, with a center of operations in Havana and other branches in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, and the

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. His mercantile standing was so high that his credit bills were enthusiastically accepted in

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and many other well-known financial centers. In Lomboko, Blanco built himself a private kingdom with storehouses on an island, his office on another island, and houses for his African wives on yet a third island. Slaves awaiting shipment were housed on the islands of Taro and Kamasun. In 1838, Blanco left Africa for Cuba and went to

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, all the time trading in slaves. He left Gallinas just before most of the ''

La Amistad ''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''The Friendship'') was a 19th-century two-masted schooner owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives who had been captured and sold to European slav ...

'' Africans reached his stockades, but he left behind a network of employees to continue his business. It is likely that some of them handled the ''Amistad'' Africans. At any rate, he played a vital part in the development of the slave trade in this region. Due to military pressure from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Blanco's business finally collapsed in 1848, and in 1854 he died in

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. Pedro Blanco has several descendants living in Cuba and Miami. Matias and Lucas Blanco currently reside in Pinecrest, Miami, Florida. Matias is currently enrolled at Boston College. There he leads an America First political faction. It is speculated that he studied under Nicholas J. Fuentes.

Popular Culture

Spanish actor and writer

Carlos Bardem Carlos Encinas Bardem (born 7 March 1963) is a Spanish actor and writer. He is often cast in "tough guy" roles, if not outright villains. In addition to his native Spain, he was worked in film and television in Latin America and the United State ...

wrote a novel about Pedro Blanco called Mongo Blanco and was published by

Plaza & Janés Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was fou ...

in 2019.

References

*. *. *Lino Novas Calvo, Pedro Blanco, el negrero (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1973) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco, Pedro Spanish slave traders Spanish pirates Pirates from New Spain 1854 deaths 1795 births 19th-century Spanish businesspeople 19th-century Cuban businesspeople