From the refuge on the peaks of São Tomé Island to colonial absorption: the issue of the Angolares

Abstract

Descending from the survivors of the sinking of a slave ship (according to some) or from slaves fleeing the sugar mills (according to others), for centuries, the Angolares found refuge from the colonisers’ domination in the mountainous inland of São Tomé Island. This article analyses the problem of the origin of the Angolar people and describes the difficult process of its integration in the colonial society, which only began in the nineteenth century.