Gabonese Americans

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Gabonese Americans
Total population
Less than 300[1]
Languages
Fang · English · French
Religion
Christianity · Islam · Bwiti · Animism

Gabonese Americans are Americans of Gabonese descent. Based in the DNA analysis, at least some West African slaves from present-day Gabon arrived to the modern United States during the American colonial period.

History[]

During the Atlantic slave trade, approximately 65,000 of the African slaves that arrived to the United States came from the Bight of Biafra, which is partially located in what is now northern Gabon.[2] However, most were from Nigeria and Cameroon and only a few slaves came from Gabon.[3] Slaves from Bight of Biafra were smuggled into Louisiana in large numbers.[4][5] During these centuries, some Africans arrived in the United States were belonging to ethnicities such as the Fang, Benga, Benza and Kota.[6][7][8]

Later, since the abolition of slavery and independence of Gabon, a small number of Gabonese nationals have emigrated to United States from the modern Gabon. They arrived to USA fleeing the wars (which have taken place there after independence) and seeking political asylum and university studies. In United States, there about 250 Gabonese students in different colleges.[3]

Notable people[]

  • Christelle Avomo
  • Aida Touré
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • References[]

    1. ^ "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000" (XLS). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
    2. ^ Lovejoy, Paul E. (2007). "Peoples from the Kongo and the Bight of Biafra". Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
    3. ^ a b Long, Lucy M. (2015). Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 209. ISBN 978-1-4422-2731-6. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
    4. ^ McMillin, James A. (2004). The Final Victims: Foreign Slave Trade to North America, 1783-1810. ISBN 9781570035463.
    5. ^ http://www.driskellcenter.umd.edu/programs/2003-2004/colloq/hall/igbo.pdf
    6. ^ "Jackson Rice Simmons 'Finding Your Roots'". genealogy-research-tools.com. April 29, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
    7. ^ Rodman, Sarah (April 29, 2012). "Brown president Ruth Simmons traces 'Roots'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
    8. ^ "'Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.' - DNA in the Seventh Episode". Your Genetic Genealogist. April 30, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
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