Finding Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are studies done by historians and other researchers by analyzing primary sources. Books, book chapters, and journal articles are the main types of secondary sources.
When starting your keyword search to find articles and books, try to do a balanced search—not too broad but not too narrow either. Use several synonyms to be sure that you find everything relevant to your topic. This is very important when you are focusing on just one country, e.g. Cuba, the Dominican Republic, etc.
Black is a common term used to describe African descendants regardless of country of origin. When searching for phrases, use quotation marks to indicate to the system that you want articles on that topic, e.g. "Latin America". Depending on your topic here are some suggestions for terms to use for your keywords searches:
- Black AND "Puerto Rico"
- "African Diaspora" AND Mexico
- "sugar cane industry" AND Black AND Cuba
Other terms to search for Black people in Latin America and the Caribbean: Afro-Latino, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Puerto Rican, etc.
To help you develop your research question, check out these books for background information on such topics as slavery and the African Diaspora in the Americas and visit the recommended databases listed on this page to find the articles you need for your research project.
Recommended Databases
- Academic Search PremierIncludes articles from scholarly journals and popular magazines covering a wide variety of disciplines with the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
- JSTORScholarly journals in many academic fields, especially arts, literature, humanities, and biology.
- Project MUSEFull text access to journals and ebooks in classics, education, history, literature, math, philosophy, politics, religion, and visual and performing arts.
Can Find Articles in your Topic? Try Google Scholar! It is a good place to test your keywords and see what is out there. Good place to start if you are not sure what is your topic too.
Interlibrary Services
Interlibrary Services provides materials free of charge to valid UConn users. Services provided include:
- ILLiadRequest materials not owned by UConn.
- Scan on DemandRequest the scan and electronic delivery of chapters and articles from the UConn Library's print resources.
- Request ServiceRequest circulating items from UConn's collections be held for pickup at the campus library of your choice.
Google Scholar
- Configure Google ScholarAccess UConn materials from Google Scholar. Check off UConn-UConn Full Text and Save
African Diaspora in the Americas
Africans to Spanish America [ebook] by ISBN: 9780252036637Publication Date: 2012-03-30Africans to Spanish America expands the diaspora framework to include Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and Cuba, exploring the connections and disjunctures between colonial Latin America and the African diaspora in the Spanish empires.
Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000 by Call Number: F1419.N4 A63 2004ISBN: 0195152328Publication Date: 2004-06-24George Reid Andrews deftly synthesizes the history of people of African descent in every Latin American country from Mexico and the Caribbean to Argentina.
Slave Trade and Slavery in the Americas
Slavery, Freedom, and Abolition in Latin America and the Atlantic World by Call Number: HT1052.5 .S36 2011ISBN: 0826339050Publication Date: 2011Why slavery was so resilient and how people in Latin America fought against it are the subjects of this compelling study.
The Human Tradition in the Black Atlantic, 1500-2000 by Call Number: CT105 .H786 2010ISBN: 074256729XPublication Date: 2009-11-16Centering on the diaspora caused by the forced migration of Africans to Europe and across the Atlantic to the Americas, the chapters explore the slave trade, enslavement, resistance, adaptation, cultural transformations, and the quest for citizenship rights.
