In the seventeenth century, Veracruz was the busiest port in the
wealthiest colony in the Americas. People and goods from five continents
converged in the city, inserting it firmly into the early modern world's
largest global networks. Nevertheless, Veracruz never attained the fame
or status of other Atlantic ports. Veracruz and the Caribbean in the
Seventeenth Century is the first English-language, book-length study of
early modern Veracruz. Weaving elements of environmental, social, and
cultural history, it examines both Veracruz's internal dynamics and its
external relationships. Chief among Veracruz's relationships were its
close ties within the Caribbean. Emphasizing relationships of
small-scale trade and migration between Veracruz and Caribbean cities
like Havana, Santo Domingo, and Cartagena, Veracruz and the Caribbean
shows how the city's residents - especially its large African and
Afro-descended communities - were able to form communities and define
identities separate from those available in the Mexican mainland.