1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey y'all, I'm Eaves and welcome to this 3 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, where we uncover a new layer 4 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: of history every day. Today is February. The day was 5 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: February three, nineteen fifty three. Portuguese landowners and colonial officials 6 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,919 Speaker 1: killed hundreds of Creole workers in South Tomay in an 7 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: event that became known as the Batpa Massacre. The Portuguese 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: arrived at the islands of salth Tomay in Principal sometime 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:47,279 Speaker 1: around fourteen seventy. Alvaro Comina got a land grant from 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: the Portuguese crown and established a successful community on salth 11 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: Tomay in four As they attempted to colonize the islands, 12 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: they brought in many convicts, Jewish people who had been 13 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: expelled from Portugal, children who have been separated from their parents, 14 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,919 Speaker 1: as well as enslaved Africans. Those enslaved Africans were forced 15 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: to work the land, turning the fertile volcanic soil into 16 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: sugar plantations. By the mid sixteenth century, sal Tomay had 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: become a major exporter of sugar, but sugar cultivation soon 18 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: declined on the island. Due to competition, and an enslaved 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: man named Amador brought together thousands of enslaved people on 20 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: the island in fifteen in a revolt that destroyed many plantations, 21 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: sugar mills, and houses. As the economy declined and many 22 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 1: plantation owners left the island, sal Tomay became a stop 23 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: for ships engaged in the slave trade. By the early 24 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds, coffee and cacao had displaced sugar as Saltmay's 25 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: cash crops. By the beginning of the twentieth century, sal 26 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: Toomay had become the world's largest producer of cocao. Portuguese 27 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: companies in absentee land lord's own huge plantations called hostas 28 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: that occupied all productive farmland. Even though Portugal had officially 29 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: abolished slavery in its African colonies by this time, the 30 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: practice of forced paid labor continued. This system essentially operated 31 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: as slavery. The Portuguese brought in contract laborers from Cape Verde, Angla, Mozambique, 32 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: and other parts of the empire against their will and 33 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: without repatriating them. Though the laborers were technically free after purchase, 34 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,519 Speaker 1: they were bound to contracts that were automatically renewed once 35 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: they expired, they could also be sold or inherited. Working 36 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: conditions were poor and laborers were abused, and the children 37 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: of these laborers were born into the system, but the 38 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: system required new labor constantly since birth rates were low 39 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,679 Speaker 1: and mortality rates were high. People around the world took 40 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: notice of the corruption and abuse that was taking place 41 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: on the plantations in style Tomay, and some boycotted products 42 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: from the island. After World War One ended, hospitals were 43 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: added to the hostas, and cacao production declined. Still, abuse 44 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: continued on the plantations that remained, and social unrest persisted. 45 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: A language developed on the island that became known as 46 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: Foho Creole. Descendants of Portuguese colonists and enslaved Africans became 47 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: known as Foe hosts. Fohos refused to do field work, 48 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: as they considered it beneath them and only fit for 49 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: enslaved people or contract laborers. But as a plantations faced 50 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: labor shortages, Foe hosts feared that they would be forced 51 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: to do contract labor. In tension between the colonial government 52 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: and fo hosts escalated. This culminated in the Botepa massacre 53 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: on February three, n three. As FOHO protesters gathered that 54 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: day in Botapa, the Portuguese moved to crush what they 55 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: deemed a communist rebellion. Militia's Portuguese plants and colonial authorities 56 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: tortured and killed hundreds of po hosts. Many photos were 57 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: taken to a forced labor camp, and other prominent photosts 58 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: and sympathetic planters were sent to Principe. Though it's likely 59 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: that hundreds of people died, the exact number of deaths 60 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: is unclear. The massacre marks a pivotal moment in the 61 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: nationalist movement on sal Toomai and Principe. The event led 62 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: to the formation of the Committee for the Liberation of 63 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: Saltoma and Principe. In July of nineteen, the islands gained 64 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: their independence. I'm Eve Jeffco and hopefully you know a 65 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did it yesterday. 66 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: If you're hungry for more history, you can find us 67 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at T D I h 68 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: C Podcast, and you can email us at this Day 69 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: at I heart media dot com. Thanks for going on 70 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: this trip through history with us. We'll see you again 71 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: tomorrow with another episode. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 72 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 73 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.