Kidnapped in Ghana, brought to Maryland/Virginia

James K. Anquandah is a full Professor of Archeology at the University of Ghana. He has also learned his family's history and knows that one of his ancestors was kidnapped at Elmina in Ghana by Dutch slavers, unwilling to buy slaves but more than willing to kidnap them.

Anquandah's ancestor was placed on a slave ship and taken to the Maryland/Virginia area of North America in the 1600s. The United States of America did not yet exist and control of the North American continent was being contested by the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch, all of whom wanted to take the land from the native Americans who lived there. They also had a desire for Africans to do the manual labor that needed to be done to build a nation.

View award winning filmographer Professor Pat Ward Williams's video interview with Professor James K. Anquandah and learn more about the history of African slavery and survival on the North American continent.




Video by Pat Ward Williams
Text by Barry Williams