Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Trailblazers in Black History: Absalom Boston

 
Absalom Boston was a United States mariner who was the first African-American captain to sail a whaleship, with an all-black crew, in 1822.

Absalom Boston was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, to Seneca Boston, an African-American ex-slave father, and Thankful Micah, a Wampanoag Indian mother. His grandfather or possibly uncle, a slave named Prince Boston, was part of the crew of a 1770 whaling voyage, but refused to turn over his earnings to his white master. Instead, he went to court and won both his earnings and freedom, making him the first Black slave to win his freedom in a U.S. jury trial.

Additional information is available here

Source: Wikipedia

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