And before becoming involved in history interpretation, is my new book, grandmother would remind me as a child, slaverys tell you the story of the people. My interest is telling the story of the people. Clearly, people of african ancestry arrive in the americas and the british north america, or the west indies and south american, as we arrived under the most perilous and difficult circumstances if human slavery. On the other hand, we persevered. The fact that so many of us of African Heritage exist in newport, boston, new york, or betos, or anywhere in the western hemisphere is a testament to her perseverance. Settled in 16 39 newport, rhode island would grow to become one of the most active ports and also became the most active slave port. Between 17 or five in 1805, newport merchants within road island were responsible for nearly 1000 slave from rhode island to the south african coast to the west indies and back to rhode island. They transported about 100,000 africans back to the new world during that 100year period. The africans that arrived in rhode island ships had several pathways. For the most part, road island in the english colony was trading with other angling colonies in the case of waste africa, its the guinea coast of what today would be recognize from nigeria to ghana and to guinea. From there, africans would be taken to the west indies largely, again to english settlements of what today we would recognize as the bahamas, jamaica and barbados. Then from there, africans alone would be transported back to newport in rhode island. What we called the triangle trait. In the case of newport, the strait was almost similarly tied to molasses. Between the beginning of the 18 century to the end of the 18 century after the american revolution, you port itself was involved in about 80 of what is called the guinea rum trade. Some newport ships would literally take rum that was distilled and produced in newport, and we traded for enslaved africans or for african coast. Those africans would be transported to english colonies in the west indies. Mostly jamaica, barbados. There, they would become the labor force that would work in the sugar plantations. They would produce the sugar and molasses. Newport ships will take the Raw Materials of sugar molasses and transported back to newport. It would be distilled into more room, and then that run was used for consumption and currency. European Transatlantic Slave Trade went on for centuries. But in the case of colonial american and british north america, the system is different than what many people might have a sense of today. In fact, many people, when they think in terms of african enslavement and slave trade, they tend to think of west indian systems or an a. G. Bedlam 19th century system. They think of cotton fields, rice, sugar, coffee plantations, which all existed. We are all part of the cash crop system. But here in new england, we never quite had temperate weather. We dont have the great soil, so we were not really producing the cash crops. For the most part, the africans that came to new england, generally, but particularly to newport, were more involved in any of the urban trade skills that were required during that time. In the case of newport, we had primary and secondary records and ship locks, work records that show africans being apprentices and trained as artisans. Many of them were involved and ship rights, court winding, silver making, carpentry, fine furniture, snuff making, rum making. Seamstress. Any of the work that was required in urban new england colonial seaport community, these africans were involved in doing. It is not a better or worse circumstance. It is a different circumstance. The economy of colonial new england, the climate, the opportunities for training and education were different from what enslaved africans would see the American South and certainly the west indies. By the very fact that newport was that the very center of the african slave trade and a significant number of africans would come to newport, by the middle part of the 18th century, a few years leading up to the american revolution, in nearly the entire population of newport oren slaved african americans. From that perspective, there was a significant number of africans here. Very much a part of the population, the workforce. Road island is also settled by whites who were looking for the expression of religious freedom and escaping the tyranny of old world and new world. Religious freedom and your ability to worship freely was very important concept within this community. You would find Many American africans and sleeved and households taking on the religious identity of their masters or mistresses. Quaker, he became quaker. At the school, fully became episcopal. What is important is that these africans have access to work skills, treating skills to perform those work skills. They are actively or shipping in the same place of worship as master and mistress. Most important, there is no separation of living environments. Most africans are living in the same quarters as the master and mistress. They are living in an attic were pantry. They are living together. Were shipping together. This independent life. Which would have been largely unheard of and unnecessary if that fortunes so this very tightknit community of interactivity would allow africans to have access to language skills, social skills, would allow them to reclaim their african identity much earlier and in a much more comprehensive way than africans who were enslaved elsewhere. By the mid part of the 18th century, we find a number of africans purchasing their freedom or being emancipated. They would buy homes. They would set up businesses and shops. By 1780, the first time in world history, a group of africans come together in newport and formed the free african community. This free African Union and newport those three important things. It raises money and saves money to educate africans and would establish the first three african operated school here in newport. It would also raise money for proper burials, so in fact, the oldest and largest existing african slave in free here in newport. Many of the surviving markers are paid for and even carved by a fellow africans. The third most important thing is they wanted to reclaim their african identity. Many africans do their school and eventually do their own church. They would reclaim their african names and customs. That would be very much in place in newport throughout the 18th and into the early 19th century. This is important, because of the fact that today, there are at least 30 buildings or Historic Structures from the era that are directly related to enslaved africans but more importantly, where africans owned property, apply to trade, worshiped, taught their children. On the player snow level, history is more and a vocation of steady and learning. For me it is a way of life. It is a definition of who we are. My own family, on my mother side, we date back over ten generations of newport. Many of our newport ancestors did not look like georgia martha washington. We have backgrounds where african at heritage, native heritage and jewish heritage. For me, this provides an opportunity to talk about all of American History in the most inclusive manner. I have been very fortunate, because every generation of our family has maintain heirlooms and pass it on to the next. So we have 18 century, 19 century collections of furniture, books, documents, all the things that a family might have and cherished at the time, has been passed on to the families to this day. It gives us a strong sense of not only being real new porters, the most importantly, real americans. Our story is one that is an untold story of so many other americans in this country to this day. Again, america was found under ideals of not only of liberty of conscious and freedom, but the ideals that anyone, regardless of their race or ethnicity, or their religious persuasion had the right to settle here and prosper here. The story of newport very much represents that story. Up next, historian talks about the history of slavery in new england from his book black lives, native lands, white worlds, which focuses on the regions involvement in the