Princes Journey
Abdul Rahman was capture when he was leading troops and they were ambushed and put on a slave boat. Prior to his capture he was a young prince with a young son and wife and now he was on his way from his royal life of leadership and luxury to America where he would be spit on and worked to death. Abdul got on the boat and it was a fearful trip so many africans were crammed in the bottom of the boat with awful conditions. They slept on wooden boards coming out of the side of the ship and had to sleep completely straight on their back with no room to move because they shared the boar with other soon to be slaves. They didn’t get fed much or given water. This is when princes confusion cleared and his worst nightmare came true.
Not in Futa Jallon Anymore
Rahman arrived in Nachez,Mississippi and was bought by Thomas Foster who was already a slave owner from South Carolina and was trying to build his family. He bought two slaves including Abdul for 930 pesos. Abdul didn't know how to speak english besides “Prince” so thats what Foster called him. When Abdul arrived to his new home he was in awe that Thomas Foster was living off the land due to the fact that Nachez was a spanish city but if you were an american you could settle there but you would have to live off the land. This came as a complete culture shock because in Futa Jallon it was a structure town with a constitution. “Prince” was confused and was going to have to learn how to adapt to his new life style of the one being obedient and not having the same luxuries as he did back in Africa.
Making the Best of it
Abdul attempted to run away but reality hit when he had no food or water and he realized there was no way he could get back to Africa so he went back to the Fosters home where a slave would usually get 50 lashes for being caught running away but since Prince was honest about it and turned himself in he did not receive any punishment and this established a more honest foundation between him and Thomas Foster. Prince decided to start working hard and with the new cotton business growing it was a good time to start. Cotton wasn't big so Foster ran one of the few and it was very successful Abdul worked hard each day and contributed immensely to the plantation. He met a woman and they later got married and had 9 children who are all owned by Foster.
Second Chance at Royalty
One day when Abdul was out in the town he working for Foster he saw Dr John Cox who was a doctor on a ship but got left behind,Rahman took him in sheltered him fed him and taught him about his culture until he could get back to America. They were both so excited to see each other that day Dr cox went to Thomas foster and asked to buy Prince for double his original price so he could repay Abdul and send him back to Africa but Foster stuck with no, no matter what price. Abdul also didn't want to go back because he had a family. Then when he met Andrew Marschalk, a printer Marschalk printed his story but it became so big because he stretched the truth that the president gets involved, after a triumph Prince actually gets freed but is forced to leave behind 9 kids they saved up enough money to free only 2. Abdul went back to Africa with his wife were his two kids eventually met up with him
Bibliography: Prince Among Slaves. Dir. Bill Duke & Andrea Kalin. PBS 2008
Image :"WebFuuta Alfa Abdul-Rahman (1762-1829)." WebFuuta/Abdul-Rahman/Musulman/Prince Du Fuuta-Jaloo. Web. 5 Feb. 2015. <http://webfuuta.net/pas/index.html>.
