Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

November 14, 2023

The Jewish Slaves of the First Sugar Plantation

Exiled from Portugal to Saõ Tomé.

In a prelude to the discovery of the New World, Iberian sailors ventured to a number of islands in the Atlantic. One of these is Saõ Tomé, an island 150 miles off the African coast that was uninhabited when the Portuguese discovered it in 1470. M. Dores Cruz, Larissa Thomas, and M. Nazaré Ceita report on their recent archaeological investigation of a sugar mill and estate house—and include a tantalizing detail:

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