Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

by Camilla Townsend

What Chimalpahin had learned a few years earlier was that the very vibrancy of the urban black subculture sometimes exacerbated its vulnerabilities. On Christmas Eve, 1608, many dozens of the city’s black residents participated in a mock “coronation” of a black king and queen, giving them paper crowns and decorated thrones, and then partying through the night. This was in keeping with traditions of West Africa as well as Europe’s widespread carnival. The frightened white population—which had long been nervous about the rising numbers of Africans in their midst—was not accustomed to the idea of anyone bowing to a local African king. They held an investigation, but could not prove that anyone had ever genuinely planned to initiate a monarquía Africana, except in fun.14 The Spaniards behind the investigation, however, did not let the matter drop. It was no accident that a few months later the ruling council of Mexico suddenly decided to organize a force to go out into the countryside and ferret out the so-called maroon communities. The word cimarrón had once referred to runaway cattle and other errant farm animals but was now shortened and applied to people. Over the years, first dozens and then hundreds of slaves on sugar plantations had run away and joined other escapees living in relatively unknown, unsettled lands, especially in the eastern lowlands. They made their living by robbing passersby on certain roads, hunting and trapping animals, and planting crops in tiny plot...