More for Black History Month; Black Caribbean Sailors serving in the Union Navy during the Civil War.
Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 03:02PM
As I said on a previous post, Black History Month should be about more than recycling the same stories over and over, and we should endeavor to present new or little known information.
On many occasions I have made it known that I believe the original people of the Americas, are who would be described today as Black people. There is much evidence to support this, and even a bit of rumination on the words used at the time of the European voyages which occurred before, and after the voyage of Christopher Columbus will help to reveal such. One main point to consider is the use of the word Indian. During the time of the European voyages west, the people encountered were described as Indians. Not withstanding, that in 1492 there was no place in the world named India. Yet, Christopher Columbus is alleged to have written in a letter that he had Indios with him on his return from the Lucayos. This dispells the tale that he was looking for a western route to India.
Thus, during the time of Columbus, the word Indian did not refer to place called India. The place we call India today was then called Hindustan, and the use of the term Indians for the people of the americas didn’t come into fashion until around 1553. Columbus also writes of the people of the Guanahani Islands (now the Bahamas) as “…not Black, but the color of the inhabitants of the Canaries (islands off the west coast of Africa), use your imagination concerning the race of the people that inhabited islands off Africa's west coast.
Its imperative that we understand that when Columbus says they are not black, he is not referring to race but, only to skin color. This doesn‘t indicate the people of the Americas are not Negroid/Africoid people, only that they are not as dark complected as other Moors he had encountered.
Later, during the time of the Underground Railroad, many escape routes lead from the Carolinas south through Georgia, Florida into the Caribbean on to the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica, the islands that are in the closest proximity to the U.S. With that said I would like to present a post found on Black Food Culture shop and bookstore, written by Charo R. Walker on Afro Bahamians in the Union Navy during the Civil War. There were over 18,000 Black people in the Union Navy comprised of Black people of the U.S., Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados. Think of the deeply rooted connection of our ancestors that we have somehow allowed ourselves to forget. Surely our ancestors didn't.
Historical Society Talk on Afro-Bahamian Sailors in the U.S. Civil War.
By Charo R. Walker
BlackFood News Reporter
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LAST Thursday The Bahamas Historical Society hosted a talk by Dr. Peter T. Dalleo entitled, ‘That Boasted Land of Negro Liberty’: Afro-Bahamian Sailors and the Union Navy During the U.S. Civil War.
The event, which was attended by about 30 persons, proved to be very thought provoking.
Dr. Dalleo holds a PhD in African History and is a former lecturer at The College of The Bahamas. Apart from his educational background, he acknowledges that working in Kenya and Ethiopia strengthened his knowledge of Africa. He also credits his time spent in The Bahamas with enhancing his understanding of the African Diaspora in the Caribbean.
In his most recent work, which spans from 1861 to 1865, he looks at the intersection of American and Bahamian history from an African perspective.
His research profiles 62 Afro-Bahamian sailors who served in the Union Navy during the U.S. Civil War. Dr. Dalleo’s proof of the nationality of these sailors rests on enlistment papers that he accessed which lists Nassau, New Providence as the birthplace of the sailors.
According to Dr. Dalleo, most of the sailors were in their mid-twenties, with the youngest being 19 and the eldest 47.
The sailors, for the most part, enlisted in the navy yards or military shipyards on the East Coast of the United States; mainly in New York. There were also some instances in which Afro-Bahamian sailors signed up outside the U.S.
Dr. Dalleo posited that those sailors who signed up in the U.S. were probably working there before the war began and had considerable maritime experience given the strong maritime tradition in The Bahamas. As a result, 39 of the Afro-Bahamian sailors had a rating of seaman or ordinary seaman as opposed to being cooks or being assigned other menial tasks.
He also told the audience that Afro-Bahamian sailors served on 52 different vessels, including supply ships and gun boats. Dr. Dalleo highlighted Dover Edwards, in particular, as an Afro-Bahamian sailor who saw “action” during the War.
Of the 90,000 sailors who enlisted in the Union Navy 18,000 were of African descent. Additionally, the Afro-Bahamian sailors were part of a larger Afro-Caribbean presence in the Union Navy; as sailors of African descent also came from Jamaica, Trinidad, the Turks, and Barbados.
The talk ended with Dr. Dalleo offering speculations on why the sailors enlisted in the Union Navy. He stated that the navy offered good pay, there were prize awards for capturing Confederacy vessels, there was predictability of punishment in the face of discrimination, and there was racial tolerance though there was personal racism.
Perhaps, the biggest pull, which Dr. Dalleo also mentioned, was that they knew they were fighting for the freedom of their brothers and sisters in America.
Though Dr. Dalleo admitted that his work was incomplete and lacked all of the answers just yet his efforts so far are commendable.
Reader Comments (2)
Thanks for posting this. This is really fascinating. I always wish there were more diaries, letters, etc. recovered from our people who lived through various historical events like this. [The U.S. Civil War, the Exodusters' journey to Kansas, Haitian Independence, etc.]
Peace, blessings and solidarity.