
On October 3, 1807, Thomas Jefferson was contacted by an unknown traveler urgently pleading for a private "interview" with the President, promising to disclose "a matter of momentous importance". By the next day, Jefferson held in his hands two astonishing manuscripts whose history has been lost for over two centuries. Authored by Muslims fleeing captivity in rural Kentucky, these documents delivered to the President in 1807 were penned by literate African slaves, and written entirely in Arabic.Jefferson's Muslim Fugitives reveals the untold story of two escaped West Africans in the American heartland whose Arabic writings reached a sitting U.S. President, prompting him to intervene on their behalf. Recounting a quest for emancipation that crosses borders of race, region and religion, Jeffrey Einboden unearths Arabic manuscripts that circulated among Jefferson and his prominent peers, including a document from 1780s Georgia which Einboden identifies as the earliest surviving example of Muslim slave authorship in the newly-formed United States. Revealing Jefferson's lifelong entanglements with slavery and Islam, Jefferson's Muslim Fugitives tracks the ascent of Arabic slave writings to the highest halls of U.S. power, while questioning why such vital legacies from the American past have been entirely forgotten.
This book investigates the historical significance of two Arabic manuscripts written by enslaved Muslims in 1807 and their direct correspondence with President Thomas Jefferson. Jeffrey Einboden, a scholar of comparative literature and religion, utilizes archival research and linguistic analysis to reconstruct the lives of these enslaved individuals. He argues that these documents represent a critical, overlooked intersection of American political power, the institution of slavery, and the presence of Islam in the early United States.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and historians frequently praise this work for its meticulous archival recovery and its ability to challenge traditional narratives regarding the religious and intellectual lives of enslaved people. Readers often note the academic rigor of the prose, which effectively bridges the gap between literary analysis and historical documentation.
Page Count:
346
Publication Date:
2020-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190844493
ISBN-13:
9780190844493
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