Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua: An Enslaved Muslim of the Black Atlantic

A literate Muslim born between 1820 and 1830 in present-day Benin, Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua was enslaved in West Africa and forcibly moved to Brazil in 1845. During a trip to New York City in 1847, he escaped from his master and fled to Haiti, where he converted to Christianity. When he eventually returned to the United States, he enrolled in New York Central College. Baquaqua published his autobiography —the only known narrative by a former Brazilian slave— in 1854 and traveled to England w...