The story of Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, a man taken from the Niger Delta in Africa and sold into slavery in Brazil is one of the very few accounts of slave life from the perspective of a former slave.
He arrived in Brazil in 1845 and was initially enslaved by a baker in Recife:
He arrived in Brazil in 1845 and was initially enslaved by a baker in Recife:
"Its horrors, ah! who can describe. (...) We were thrust into the hold of the vessel in a state of nudity, the males being crammed on one side, and the females on the other; the hold was so low that we could not stand up, but were obliged to crouch upon the floor or sit down;
... day and night were the same to us, sleep being denied us from the confined position of our bodies, and we became desperate through suffering and fatigue;
... Oh! the loathsomeness and filth of that horrible place will never be effaced from my memory; nay, as long as memory holds her seat in this distracted brain, will I remember that.
My heart even at this day, sickens at the thought of it;
My heart even at this day, sickens at the thought of it;
... The only food we had during the voyage was corn soaked and boiled. (...) We suffered very much for want of water, but was denied all we needed. A pint a day was all that was allowed, and no more; and a great many slaves died upon the passage;
… When I reached the shore, I felt thankful to Providence that I was once more permitted to breathe pure air (...) I remained in this slave market but a day or two, before I was again sold to a slave dealer in the city;
... who again sold me to a man in the country, who was a baker, and resided not a great distance from Pernambuco.
(...) "After this and attempt upon my life, I was taken to my master's house, who tied my hands behind me, and placed my feet together and whipped me most unmercifully, and beat me about the head and face with a heavy stick, then shook me by the neck ...
... and struck my head against the door posts, which cut and bruised me about the temples, the scars from which savage treatment are visible at this time, and will remain so as long as I live."
In 1847, Baquaqua came under the ownership of Clemente Jose da Costa who was the captain and co-owner of the ship Lembranfa. In April 1847, the Lembranfa sailed to trade goods in New York.
Learning before the voyage that New York was a “land of freedom,” Baquaquqa escaped the Lembranfa. He was later sent to prison, escaped from the cell, and with “the assistance of…friends,” absconded to Boston.
From Boston, he was given passage to Haiti. It was here that he became closely acquainted with Rev. William L. Judd, a Baptist Missionary, and converted to Christianity.
In late 1849, he sailed with Judd’s wife to New York where he enrolled in New York Central College...
... With his education, Baquaqua hoped to return to Africa as a missionary.
... With his education, Baquaqua hoped to return to Africa as a missionary.
Though Baquaqua disappears from the historical record after 1857, the written narrative of his experience as an enslaved and free man in the Atlantic world survives.
"When Brazil's slaves were finally set free in 1888, they faced economic catastrophe rather than experiencing the officially proclaimed jubilation of freedom.
They were simply left to their individual fates — without land, without money and without an education.
They were simply left to their individual fates — without land, without money and without an education.
And that is largely where their descendants still stand today.
Millions of Afro-Brazilians today live in the same precarious circumstances that their forebears faced more than a century ago."
(Source: dw.com)
Millions of Afro-Brazilians today live in the same precarious circumstances that their forebears faced more than a century ago."
(Source: dw.com)
