The incredible story of Redoshi, the last slave taken from Africa to the United States – 04/03/2019

His name was Redoshi and he lived in a village in what is now the African country of Benin. She was abducted by slave traders in 1860 and, at the age of only 12, she was sent by boat to the United States. with 100 other men, women and children. It was bought by a banker who also owned a plantation in Alabama, which gave him his family name: the woman will now call her Sally Smith. Although slavery was only abolished 5 years after his arrival in the United States, Smith would live more than 70 years in the plantation of the man who had acquired it, until he died. 39 on the day of his death. in 1937.

The course of Redoshi / Sally Smith is similar to the millions of Africans and Africans who were kidnapped and forced to live the rest of their lives as the property of someone. According to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, between 1525 and 1866, More than 12 million people They were forcibly taken from different parts of Africa and sent to North America, South America and the Caribbean.

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An estimated 10 million have survived the trip. The singular note of Smith's story is that, according to research done by the University of Newcastle, she I would have been the last slave a record was imported directly from Africa to the United States, says an article published by the BBC

Dr. Hannah Durkin, who led the university's research, made this discovery from file surveys, censuses and surveys. first-hand accounts cited in various historiographical archives. By gathering all the information available to him, Durkin was able to establish that Smith lived in Selma, Alabama, with his husband called Uncle Billy or Yawith (also a slave brought from Africa) and his daughter until his death. 89 or 90 yearsin 1937.

The story of Redoshi / Sally Smith could be saved because he lived well in the twentieth century, coinciding with the period in which historians began to document the experiences of those who had been forcibly brought to Africa from Africa. There were slaves who survived the woman (for example, those who were born into slavery already on American soil), but it is believed that she was the last person to have been registered. It came directly from the slave trade.

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Redoshi, according to the New York Times, survived the slave ship, civil war and depression.

According to testimonials that Durkin was able to gather, Redoshi / Sally Smith recalled his life in Benin before being kidnapped a peaceful existence, which was interrupted by conflict with a neighboring tribe, who kidnapped and sold it to the traffickers.

His memories of the plantation were flooded stories of "blows", "lashes" and "death". In any case, he was still resistant and knew his origin: some testimonies claim that he was trying to transmit his native language to his daughter and was trying to preserve his African identity and culture.

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The "Clotilda"

"This is only a voice and testimony about what happened at that time, but it's a representation of all the lost testimonials," Durkin explained.

Durkin however noted that it was believed that "this woman was lost in history". But Redoshi he did not miss.

He came to the United States in Clotilda, the last slave ship to touch the United States after 240 years of slavery.

During his investigation, Durkin discovered that Redoshi he had been filmed for a kind of didactic film released in 1938 by the Ministry of Agriculture, under the title "The black farmer: extension work for better farming and a better life ".

In the film, Redoshi already old appears sitting in the porch from his little house, made of planks of wood in a plantation in Alabama. While the narrator 's voice is heard, the woman is talking to someone else, gray hair streaks escaping from her hair, she is wrapped in a blanket, with his dark skin and his toothless smile.

For this note, information from The New York Times and BBC News

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