Testimonies of West Africans
from the Era of Slavery


Freedom Narratives focuses on the enforced migration of enslaved Africans in the Atlantic world during the era of the slave trade from the 16th to the 19th century. The biographical accounts included here include the testimonies and stories of individuals born in West Africa whose voices have long been silenced. This digital repository of autobiographical testimonies and biographical data establishes where people came from, why they were enslaved, whether or not they freed themselves, and what happened to them. Learn More

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Featured Profiles

Isambákōn

Isambakon or George File, male, who was identified as Fulup, was born in 1819 in Batendu in the Upper Guinea Coast region. He was enslaved through kidnapping in 1841 and taken to Elalap, Gadsou, and Bissau.
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Kayawon

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'Udṣūman

Udsuman (or Osman), or Robert Nicol, male, identified as Sarar, was born in about 1805 in the village Sadal, where he had a child about ten years of age when he was seized and sold by a Dsual man because he had committed adultery with one of his wives.
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