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James Riley

James Riley. Captain of the Commerce, author Of “Sufferings in Africa”. May 1815. The “Commerce” began its intended six month voyage from Connecticut to New Orleans, Gibraltar and the Cape Verde Islands for salt. September 1815. The life raft landed at Cape Barbas.

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James Riley

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  1. James Riley Captain of the Commerce, author Of “Sufferings in Africa”

  2. May 1815 The “Commerce” began its intended six month voyage from Connecticut to New Orleans, Gibraltar and the Cape Verde Islands for salt.

  3. September 1815 The life raft landed at Cape Barbas. The remaining crew climbed the cliffs and were taken into slavery by Oulad Bou Sbaa nomads.

  4. Sept 21; Sidi Hamet Riley met a newcomer to the friq and begged him for water. Hamet was impressed that Riley took water to Clark and agreed to take him 800 miles to Mogadore (now called Essaouira).

  5. October 25; William Willshire Hamet delivered Riley’s letter to the British Vice Consul to Mogadore, William Willshire. He agreed to pay Hamet’s price of nine hundred and twenty hard dollars and two double barreled muskets.

  6. Riley’s Book and Its Effect Over one million copies of Sufferings were sold in the United States over a period of a few years after it was published in 1817. President Lincoln read the book as a young man.

  7. Riley the Abolitionist In a 1819 letter to Ohio governor Ethan Allen Brown, Riley said, “Men though covered with a black skin are not brutes. The hypocritical advocate of slavery shall be detested by all mankind.”

  8. Forms of Memory • Sufferings in Africa • Sequel to Riley’s Narrative • Skeletons on the Zahara • Captain James Riley • History Channel • Planned movie (in 2010) • Willshire, Ohio (2010 population 397)

  9. Riley’s Story Post 9-11 “Two very different people. Two different religions. Two very different backgrounds that kind of found a common respect for each other.” -James Willshire Riley, discussing the relationship between his ancestor, James Riley and Sidi Hamet

  10. Riley’s Story Today Dean King, the author of Skeletons on the Zahara, added a prologue that detailed Sidi Hamet’s life before he met Captain Riley. The prologue detailed the dangers of the lives of desert nomads.

  11. Riley’s Letters Captain Riley was a prolific letter writer for the cause of abolition. Some of his letters are at the Ohio Historical Society.

  12. Bibliography • Dean King, Skeletons on the Zahara. New York: Back Bay Books, 2004. • McMurtry , R. Gerald. “The Influence of Riley's Narrative upon Abraham Lincoln.” Indiana Magazine of History (1934): Accessed April 18, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27786655?uid=3739656&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102062072611 • Skeletons on the Sahara. Directed by David Keane. 2006. Los Angeles: History Channel, 2006. DVD.

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