Juan Garrido (c. 1480 [1] – c. 1550 [2]) was an Afro - Spaniard of Kongo origin conquistador known as the first documented Bantu person in what would become the United States. Born in the Kingdom of Kongo in West Central Africa, he went to Portugal as a young man.

He was a Black African Spanish conquistador. Born in Africa, he went to Portugal as a slave. When baptized, he took the name Juan Garrido (Handsome John). He went to Seville, where he joined an expedition to the New World as Pedro Garrido's servant. He joined a Spanish expedition and arrived in Santo Domingo (Hispaniola) in about 1502.

Juan Garrido was known as the first African to land in North America. Historians claim he was the first African American in the New World. By 1519, Juan Garrido was already a veteran black conquistador.

Feb 24, 2009 · Born around 1480 in West Africa, Juan Garrido is the most prominent among the small group of African freemen who traveled to the Americas to take part in the Spanish conquest of the West Indies and Mexico in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries.

Jan 11, 2024 · Juan Garrido is believed to be one of the first Africans to set foot in the Americas. His arrival predates the arrival of enslaved Africans brought to the New World. What do we know about Garrido’s early life? And what was his exact role in the conquest of the Aztec Empire?

Sep 19, 2017 · Juan Garrido a.k.a "Handsome John" was an free African conquistador who worked alongside Ponce de Leon for thirteen years. African conquistadors like Garrido were not uncommon. Many found their way into Spanish life, rather than becoming slaves.

The first African known to have reached what would become the United States, Juan Garrido was a black conquistador who obtained relative success as a free man in the Caribbean and Mexico. Most of the known details from Garrido’s life come from a 1538 petition in which he solicited royal favor for his participation in Spanish conquests.

Feb 10, 2017 · Juan Garrido was an African-Spanish conquistador, who is the first documented Black person to arrive in the United States. African by birth, he went to Portugal as a young man, and in converting to Christianity, he took the Spanish name, Juan Garrido (“Handsome John”).

Garrido, Juan c. 1480c. 1547 From the onset of the Spanish exploration and invasion of the Americas in the 1490s, Africans were brought across the Atlantic as slaves and servants. Many fought as black conquistadors against native warriors, thereby earning their freedom and a subordinate place in Spanish colonial society.

Jan 14, 2019 · Juan Garrido was born in the year 1487 on the West Coast of Africa, but later on when he was a young man, he moved and lived in Lisbon, Portugal. He converted to Christianity and upon doing so, he chose to be named Juan Garrido, which translated from Spanish to “Handsome John”.