Born in The Gambia in West Africa, Menéndez was captured and sold into slavery, being purchased by European slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic to British Carolina.
[4] He eventually retired in Havana, after founding the village of San Agustín de la Nueva Florida (Ceiba Mocha) in Cuba.
[8] Sometime between 1709 and 1711, he was captured, sold by slave traders, and probably shipped to the Province of Carolina (a British colony at the time) during a period of significantly increased importation of enslaved Africans.
After British reinforcements arrived, the Yamasee forces were ultimately defeated and Menéndez fled to Spanish Florida with several others, including his wife, Ana María de Escobar.
When Manuel de Montiano became governor in 1737, Menéndez once again formally requested freedom for himself and 31 others whom he claimed were unjustly enslaved, with support from a Yamasee chief.
[14] This created an official avenue for fugitive slaves to seek their manumission, benefitting not only those who had already reached Florida but also any future arrivals from the British colonies.
Spanish Antonio de Benavides, the sitting governor, dispatched envoys northward; however, the British rejected his offer of 200 pesos per enslaved person, arguing it was inadequate.
They also acknowledged that those who fled were seen as committing a form of theft against their owners, and that Spain's policies could attract many more runaways to Florida who might feign a wish to convert to Christianity, thus complicating the situation further.
He accused them of sending groups of Indigenous people from St. Augustine to engage in violence against British colonists, looting their plantations, and capturing more enslaved individuals.
Many Black individuals fought valiantly to defend the settlement, and in gratitude, Spanish Governor Benavides freed these fighters and dismantled the slave market in St. Augustine.
[15] According to historian Jane Landers, on October 4 and 29, 1733, King Philip V of Spain released two cedulas that officially revised the crown's stance on fugitives, although they mostly reaffirmed established policies.
However, it added a stipulation that these individuals would need to serve the Spanish crown for four years prior to achieving their freedom, marking the first time a period of indenture was specified.
Montiano provided necessary resources for this settlement and appointed Don Joseph de Leon to instruct the new residents in Christian doctrine, while Spanish Sebastian Sanchez taught them agricultural skills.
When Captain Davis attempted to reclaim his escaped slaves in St. Augustine, he was thwarted by the Spanish authorities, and he later recounted that the formerly enslaved individuals laughed at him during his efforts.
[17] The free Blacks of Fort Mose were considered among the fiercest enemies of the British and claimed they would shed every drop of their blood in defense of Spain and Catholicism.
[17] Menéndez continued to live at Fort Mose with his wife and four children, until Spanish Florida was ceded to the British in 1763 after the defeat of France in the Seven Years' War.