Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley
Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley
African Princess, Florida Slave, Plantation Slaveowner
Florida Historical Society Charlton Tebeau Award
In this revised and expanded edition of Anna Kingsley’s remarkable life story, Daniel Schafer draws on new discoveries to prove true the longstanding rumors that Anna Madgigine Jai was originally a princess from the royal family of Jolof in Senegal. Captured from her homeland in 1806, she became first an American slave, later a slaveowner, and eventually a central figure in a free black community. Anna Kingsley’s story adds a dramatic chapter to the history of the South, the state of Florida, and the African diaspora.
A fascinating look at an extraordinary woman and the complexities of slavery beyond the common image of slavery in the South.'—Booklist 'Remarkable. . . . Put[s] a voice and face to slavery in Florida during Spanish and American rule.'—American Historical Review 'An absorbing account of Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley, an African woman who was enslaved, forcibly transported to Florida, held in bondage, freed, and married to her white master; she bore several of his children and then rose to prominence as a slaveholder.'—Journal of American History 'Anna Kingsley’s life spawned legends on both sides of the Atlantic, and Schafer seeks to prove one aspect of the legend, that Anna was the daughter of a noble Wolof family.'—Journal of Southern History 'Provides insight not only into the life of this remarkable woman but also into the race, class, and gender distinctions of her time.'—Choice 'An excellent biography. . . . The book is also [a] chronicle of the transatlantic slave trade and its impact in both Africa and the New World, a history of slavery in Florida, a story of free blacks and a free black community, and one part of the story of southern race relations prior to the Civil War.'—Florida Historical Quarterly 'A rich and thought-provoking history.'—Southern Historian
Daniel L. Schafer is professor emeritus of history and University Distinguished Professor at the University of North Florida. He is the author of several books, including Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. and the Atlantic World: Slave Trader, Plantation Owner, Emancipator and Thunder on the River: The Civil War in Northeast Florida.
