Stories of West Africans drifting across the Atlantic Ocean (speak, travel, features)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To clarify, I'm asking about West Africans getting lost on their own, not while traveling with foreigners.
Anyone know any accounts of a West African getting lost in the Atlantic Ocean? Maybe a fisherman drifting out too far, or something like that?
It looks like the wind and ocean currents would move a boat from West Africa to the Americas, if they could survive long enough.
I thought of this because of the story of Jesús Vidaña, a Mexican fisherman who got lost in the Pacific and ended up drifting 5000+ miles to the west before being rescued.
This makes me think that these kinds of incidents happened many times around the world throughout human history.
For an example transatlantic route, the distance between Freetown, Sierra Leone and Macapá, Brazil is 2670 miles. That seems survivable if the person is lucky.
To clarify, I'm asking about West Africans getting lost on their own, not while traveling with foreigners.
Anyone know any accounts of a West African getting lost in the Atlantic Ocean? Maybe a fisherman drifting out too far, or something like that?
It looks like the wind and ocean currents would move a boat from West Africa to the Americas, if they could survive long enough.
I thought of this because of the story of Jesús Vidaña, a Mexican fisherman who got lost in the Pacific and ended up drifting 5000+ miles to the west before being rescued.
This makes me think that these kinds of incidents happened many times around the world throughout human history.
For an example transatlantic route, the distance between Freetown, Sierra Leone and Macapá, Brazil is 2670 miles. That seems survivable if the person is lucky.
If they can get to the Cape Verde currents will drive them to the Caribbean. In fact there is a theory that Columbus knew that there was a "new" continent, and not Asia, at the end of his journey. He couldnt say this as he had no proof but fishermen in the Canaries so the remains of people with Amerindian features being washed ashore. So maybe some might have ended up (living or not) in the Caribbean.
The book They came before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima makes an argument of this possibility, along with certain West Africans making intentional efforts to cross the Atlantic into the Americas. In the book, he made mention of a Malian fishermen speaking to King Abu Bakr II of an event when he unintentionally drifted to sea and had came across an island(He doesn't go into detail of which island, but it could have been Cape Verde). Abu Bakr II himself had great maritime inspiration of crossing the Atlantic during the last moments of his reign during the 14th century, and whether any of his 200 ships that took that voyage was successful the author expounds on that scenario. The author also made the argument that certain Sub Saharan Africans had made contact with the indigenous people of the Americas because certain plants found in the Americas were once only accessible in Africa.
The book They came before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima makes an argument of this possibility, along with certain West Africans making intentional efforts to cross the Atlantic into the Americas. In the book, he made mention of a Malian fishermen speaking to King Abu Bakr II of an event when he unintentionally drifted to sea and had came across an island(He doesn't go into detail of which island, but it could have been Cape Verde). Abu Bakr II himself had great maritime inspiration of crossing the Atlantic during the last moments of his reign during the 14th century, and whether any of his 200 ships that took that voyage was successful the author expounds on that scenario. The author also made the argument that certain Sub Saharan Africans had made contact with the indigenous people of the Americas because certain plants found in the Americas were once only accessible in Africa.
That book is pseudo garbage. Pretty much all the claims he made have been debunked. There is no proof of any Africans making it to the Americas prior to colonization.
I believe it is possible simply because of currents and the fact that Africa and South America are not that far apart make it a possibility. However this would be a one way trip for one or a couple Africans and when they landed it is very likely they would not survive long alone. There will never be a historical record to either confirm or deny that this could happen so it will forever remain un-provable.
It has always been possible that small groups made the trip from the old world to the new but unfortunately for them they left no record of it. As far as history goes Leif Erickson gets the credit for being the first provable person from the old world to make the trip. We must remember though that only the last 60 years has this fact been excepted, new discoveries could change our view of history yet again. We must also remember that even though the Vikings made the trip 1000 years ago they did not stay and leave a long term impact. Nothing will change the fact that it was the Spanish explorers who charted the way and brought the old world to the new. Proving Erickson made that trip did not change the big picture.
I posted on some other thread about The Shonghai Empire the video. Posting again.
Timeslot 32:22 until 35:00 maybe they did reach the Americas. Or maybe a few did.
Please check out this 2018 story: [url]https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/22/african-migrant-brazil-boat-rescue-atlantic-crossing[/url]. A catamaran with a broken mast and busted motor full of African migrants drifted on currents and winds from West Africa to Brazil. It took 33 days.
There is also anecdotal evidence of several West African fishermen who have also been lost at sea and currents and winds drove them straight to Brazil and the Caribbean.
Finally, the poster who said “They Came Before Columbus” is “pseudo garbage” and has been debunked is a liar. I challenge him to provide evidence that Van Sertima’s scholarship is faulty. If anything, he was too careful and did not go far enough. Read further research by Dr. Clyde Winters for what Van Sertima wouldn’t say.
Please check out this 2018 story: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/20...antic-crossing. A catamaran with a broken mast and busted motor full of African migrants drifted on currents and winds from West Africa to Brazil. It took 33 days.
There is also anecdotal evidence of several West African fishermen who have also been lost at sea and currents and winds drove them straight to Brazil and the Caribbean.
Finally, the poster who said “They Came Before Columbus” is “pseudo garbage” and has been debunked is a liar. I challenge him to provide evidence that Van Sertima’s scholarship is faulty. If anything, he was too careful and did not go far enough. Read further research by Dr. Clyde Winters for what Van Sertima wouldn’t say.
A) That is not the way history works. The person making the claim has to prove it, not the other way around. The fact that no new evidence has been collected in the 50 or so years since it was written, and mainstream academia declines to acknowledge Van Sertima as a possibility pretty much means his "theory" is dead and gone.
There were accounts of those of moorish (not just muslim but also jew & moriscos) origin preceding the old christian conquistadores.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
