Seas Remember

During the transatlantic slave trade, enslaved African Muslims were brought to the Americas, where they became known for uprisings. Charles V of Spain once tried to exclude “slaves suspected of Islamic learnings” from the Americas after the earliest recorded rebellion on Christmas Day, 1522. He blamed their behavior on “radical ideology.” However, the decree was not effective and enslaved African Muslims continued to foment revolution. In Haiti, pre-Revolution maroon leader Francois Macandal organized slaves to make poison, which was used to kill slaveholders and those assisting them. He was so notorious that poison was briefly dubbed “Macandal.”’ During slavery, Islam had a significant presence; the estimate