This talk centres gendered strategies of survival through the case of one woman who called upon a regional trauma – the Great Siege of 1683 by Dutch pirate Laurens de Graaf. The presentation will underscore the complexity of colonial life and identities in general, and the vulnerability and resiliency of African-descended families and women, in particular. It further examines the aftermath of this spectacular attack on the port of Veracruz and its subsequent uses by diverse subjects.

The experiences of the women, men and children captives bonded for life to unfree labour were the greatest feature of the plantation world of slavery in the Americas. And yet we know precious little about them. Flashes of lives appear in the records and have been skillfully used by generations of historians seeking a view of slavery from below the great house. Still, systematic large-scale studies of existing large data of the enslaved are few though new methods of historical research promise great rewards. This presentation addresses these possibilities.