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Biografia de Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua
Esta é a única biografia de um ex-escravo brasileiro que existe. Somente por essa razão, trata-se de uma obra imperdível para qualquer pessoa interessada em história africana e brasileira. Capturado na África quando era um homem livre, Baquaqua foi ali escravizado e na África trabalhou como escravo por um tempo. Posteriormente, foi comercializado como escravo vindo para o Brasil, onde chegou no Nordeste. Depois de cerca de dois anos como escravo no Brasil, inicialmente trabalhando para um padeiro no Nordeste e depois em um navio baseado no Rio de Janeiro, em um golpe de sorte e por coragem e iniciativa própria conquistou a liberdade em uma viagem a Nova Iorque, onde a escravidão era proibida. Vivendo nos Estados Unidos, depois de aprender inglês, teve a iniciativa de pegar dinheiro emprestado para publicar a sua obra biográfica na língua inglesa, que se tornou uma obra única, por ser hoje a única biografia de alguém que foi escravo no Brasil. Além das informações sobre a escravidão no Brasil, ela possui informações importantes e interessantes sobre o modo de vida e a cultura na África no século XIX, principalmente na região onde Baquaqua viveu.
110 pages, Paperback
Published October 21, 2020
About the author
Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua
3 books1 followerBaquaqua was born in Djougou (currently in Benin) between 1820 and 1830 in a prominent Muslim trader family. He learned the Quran, literature and mathematics in an Islamic school. Still as an adolescent, he and his brother took part in the succession wars in Daboya, where he was captured and then rescued.
Returning to Djougou, he became the servant of a local dignitary, perhaps the chief of Soubroukou, whom he called 'king'. The abuses he committed in that period made him target of an ambush in which he was imprisoned and transported to Dahomey; he was embarked into a slave ship in 1845 and taken to Pernambuco in Brazil.
Baquaqua was a slave in Olinda, Pernambuco for around two years. His master was a baker. He worked in the construction of houses, carrying stones, learned Portuguese, and performed as an "escravo de tabuleiro" (peddling slave). The cruelty of his Brazilian masters made him resort to alcoholism and attempt suicide.
Taken to Rio de Janeiro, Baquaqua was incorporated with the crew of the trade ship Lembrança ("A Memory"), transporting goods to the southern provinces of Brazil. In 1847, a coffee shipment to the United States was his passport to freedom. The ship arrived in New York harbor in June, where it was approached by local abolitionists, who encouraged him to escape from the ship. After the escape, however, he was imprisoned in the local jail, and only the help of the abolitionists (who facilitated his escape from prison) prevented his return to the ship. He was then sent to Haiti, where he lived with the Reverend W. L. Judd, a Baptist missionary.
Converted to Christianity and baptized in 1848, Baquaqua returned to the US due to the political instability in Haiti. He studied at the New York Central College in upstate New York for almost three years. In 1854, he moved to Canada; his autobiography was published the same year in Detroit by Samuel Downing Moore.
It is not known what happened to Baquaqua after 1857. He was then in England and had turned to the American Baptist Free Mission Society to be sent as a missionary to Africa.
Returning to Djougou, he became the servant of a local dignitary, perhaps the chief of Soubroukou, whom he called 'king'. The abuses he committed in that period made him target of an ambush in which he was imprisoned and transported to Dahomey; he was embarked into a slave ship in 1845 and taken to Pernambuco in Brazil.
Baquaqua was a slave in Olinda, Pernambuco for around two years. His master was a baker. He worked in the construction of houses, carrying stones, learned Portuguese, and performed as an "escravo de tabuleiro" (peddling slave). The cruelty of his Brazilian masters made him resort to alcoholism and attempt suicide.
Taken to Rio de Janeiro, Baquaqua was incorporated with the crew of the trade ship Lembrança ("A Memory"), transporting goods to the southern provinces of Brazil. In 1847, a coffee shipment to the United States was his passport to freedom. The ship arrived in New York harbor in June, where it was approached by local abolitionists, who encouraged him to escape from the ship. After the escape, however, he was imprisoned in the local jail, and only the help of the abolitionists (who facilitated his escape from prison) prevented his return to the ship. He was then sent to Haiti, where he lived with the Reverend W. L. Judd, a Baptist missionary.
Converted to Christianity and baptized in 1848, Baquaqua returned to the US due to the political instability in Haiti. He studied at the New York Central College in upstate New York for almost three years. In 1854, he moved to Canada; his autobiography was published the same year in Detroit by Samuel Downing Moore.
It is not known what happened to Baquaqua after 1857. He was then in England and had turned to the American Baptist Free Mission Society to be sent as a missionary to Africa.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 15, 2026
The only biography from an ex enslaved person in Brazil
Extremely hard to read but much needed
Extremely hard to read but much needed
Displaying 1 of 1 review