ABSTRACT
The diverse Cape Verdean population includes descendants of Spaniards, English, Italians, Brazilians, Sephardic Jews, Lebanese, Dutch, Germans, Americans, and even Japanese and Chinese. Like most modern populations, the fundamental essence of the Cape Verdean people reflects enduring patterns of connection to all continents across the oceans. However, for the longest part of the history of Cape Verde, the colonial administration included both the islands and steadily diminishing portions of the Upper Guinea coast. In the eighteenth century, when the interests of Brazilian slavers essentially ruled Cape Verde, the archipelago's location could be reasonably defined as 1,500 miles north-northeast of Brazil. The Cape Verde Islands have been both isolated from yet remarkably connected to the major events of world history. The most enduring resource and export of Cape Verde has been its people. Cape Verde was critical in the slave trade, and it was visited by such famed US ships as Old Ironsides.
