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Toolbox Library, primary resources thematically organized with notes and discussion questionsOnline Seminars, professional development seminars for history and literature teachersThe Making of African American Identity: Volume I, 1500-1865
The Making of African American Identity: Volume I, 1500-1865
Theme: FreedomTheme: EnslavementTheme: CommunityTheme: IdentityTheme: Emancipation
Freedom Menu

FREEDOM




Depiction of a leader, merchant, and soldiers in the kingdom of Kongo (Angola), ca. 1675

Framing Questions
  •  How did Africans live in freedom before enslavement?
  •  How did Europeans and African Americans perceive African cultures?
  •  What was the experience of capture and enslavement for those who became African Americans?


1.  Senegal & Guinea» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Ayuba Suleiman Diallo describes his homeland of Bondu, 1734
- Abdul Rahman Ibrahima describes his homeland of Futa Jalon, 1828

2.  Mali» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Boyrereau Brinch describes his homeland of Bow-woo, Niger River valley, 1810

3.  Ghana» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Broteer Furro (Venture Smith) describes his homeland of Dukandarra, 1798

4.  Benin» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Mahommah Baquaqua describes his homeland of Zoogoo, 1854

5.  Nigeria» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Olaudah Equiano describes his Ibo homeland, 1789
- Robert Campbell visits his "motherland" along the Ogun River, 1859-1860

6.  Capture» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions

- Capture in west Africa, accounts from the narratives of former slaves
- Slave mutinies, early 1700s, account by a slaveship captain



Image: Depiction of a leader, merchant, and soldiers in the kingdom of Kongo (Angola), ca. 1675, watercolor by Fr. Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo, published in Ezio Bassani, ed., "Un Cappuccino nell'Africa nera del seicento: I disegni dei Manoscritti Araldi del Padre Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo" ("A Capuchin in Black Africa in the Seventeenth Century: Drawings of the Araldi Manuscript of Father Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo"), Milan: Quaderni Poro, No. 4, 1987, plate 17. Digital image courtesy of Jerome S. Handler, Michael L. Tuite, Jr., and the University of Virginia Library, in the digital collection The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record.



FREEDOM
1. Senegal & Guinea   2. Mali   3. Ghana
4. Benin   5. Nigeria   6. Capture








TOOLBOX: The Making of African American Identity: Volume I, 1500-1865
Freedom | Enslavement | Community | Identity | Emancipation


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