ABSTRACT
The Muslim uprising in Bahia in 1835, known as the Male revolt, provides an unusual opportunity to examine the background of enslaved Africans who were brought to the Americas during the era of the transatlantic slave trade. Virtually all of the slaves and former slaves who were responsible for the Male revolt and another fourteen conspiracies, disturbances and uprisings that rocked Bahia between 1807 and 1835, came from the interior of the Bight of Benin. They included Hausa, Nupe, Kanuri and Yoruba, many of whom were Muslims.1 An examination of the origins of these slaves and former slaves raises the issue of what specialists in African history can contribute to the study of slavery in the Americas. The present study is an attempt to counteract the continuing marginalization of Africa by historians of other parts of the world and contribute to a fuller appreciation of the background of people of African descent in the Americas.
