1699: The earliest documented “boat people” fleeing Jamaica for Cuba appear in historical records when twenty enslaved people arrived by canoe.

1699: The earliest documented “boat people” fleeing Jamaica for Cuba appear in historical records when twenty enslaved people arrived by canoe. Upon their arrival, these fugitives were granted religious asylum in the Spanish colony under the crown’s protective policies. This event established a precedent for seaborne desertion that would persist as a common practice for over a century. The Spanish decision to welcome these refugees was rooted in the strategic goal of undermining Protestant colonies by offering instruction in Catholicism. Such movements highlighted the early development of a “masterless” maritime existence utilized by those seeking to escape rigorous social control.