The point here is that when 15th-century Portuguese navigator Alvaro Caminha settled on the land that is now Sao Tome, he found it uninhabited. Caminha called his gift Sao Tome or Saint Thomas, the Catholic patron saint of masons, architects, builders among other craftsmen. Just about the time they laid claim to Sao Tome, the Portuguese found another island north of Sao Tome. Employing slave labor too, Principe became a sort of twin island to Sao Tome for the purpose of sugarcane farming. Between 1530 and the outlawing of slavery in the beginning of the mid-18th century, there were almost a hundred organized revolts on record in Sao Tome and Principe.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 10, 2020 16:07 UTC