Juan Domingo Lópes (born before 1750) Juan Domingo Lópes was free, Black man born in the Dominican Republic when it was a Spanish colony. In 1761, while working on a privateer—a mercenary ship—during the Seven Years War (1756–1763), Lópes was captured by the British Navy. As a person of color, he was taken to British-colonized Jamaica, where the colonial court declared him enslaved and sold him to the Principio Iron Works in Maryland. For eight years, Lópes, renamed Mingo by his enslavers, labored in the sweltering heat to smelt ore into cast-iron objects such as slave shackles and works like this fireback, which protected fireplace bricks. In May 1769, Lópes escaped. He fled to Annapolis, where he testified before the Maryland court that he was born free. Lópes’ case was dismissed, but he was granted an appeal. While waiting, he was returned to Principio as an enslaved man. The results of his appeal are unknown.