In 1788 a slave-ship set sail from West Africa, its berth laden
with a profitable but fragile cargo: hundreds of men, women and
children bound in chains and headed for American shores. Eight
months later the survivors were sold in Natchez, Mississippi.
Among them was the 26-year-old Abdul Rahman Sori, heir to the
throne of one of the largest kingdoms in Africa. Captured in an
ambush, he was sold to English slavers for a few muskets and
some rum. After enduring the brutal Middle Passage to America,
packed below decks and in filthy conditions, he was purchased by
a struggling Mississippi farmer named Thomas Foster. Foster
hoped that the strong African would help establish his farm.
Abdul Rahman promptly escaped, but after several weeks alone in
the Mississippi swamps he voluntary returned. Sustained by his
deep faith and drawing from his well-honed intellect, Abdul
Rahman applied his leadership abilities and knowledge about
crops such as cotton to help Foster eventually become one of the
wealthiest men in Missi