Middle Passage to Biloxi

Middle Passage to Biloxi. . , In 1699, as part of his quest to find the mouth of the Mississippi River, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville identified a channel island, Ship Island. Being the only deep-water harbor between Mobile Bay and the Mississippi River, it served as the principal port of entry and departure from French Louisiana. The first European settlement in Mississippi, Fort Maurepas (Old Biloxi) was established at present day Ocean Springs and served as the first capital in 1699. The capital relocated to Mobile Bay in 1700 but returned to Mississippi in 1717 when a hurricane blocked the bay with sand. Ship Island (present day Biloxi) was founded in and would remain the capital from 1717 until 1722 when it was replaced by New Orleans. , The era of African enslavement in Mississippi began when the Afriquain reached Ship Island from the Kingdom of Whydah (present day Benin) on March 17, 1721, with 182 captives: the voyage originated with 214 men, women, and children. In that same year 3 more French ships, the Duc du Maine, the Néréide, and the Fortuné arrived. Of the 1054 total enslaved individuals who departed Africa on these vessels, 946 survived the horrendous middle passage to disembark at Ship Island. The Expedition arrived in 1723 leaving 7 ill captives at Biloxi, of which 2 died, on its way to disembarking 91 individuals in New Orleans. In 1726 the Mutine left Africa with 235 souls and disembarked 227 in Biloxi. , The 1763 Treaty of Paris ending the Seven Year's War between France and Britain transferred the Louisiana territory east of Mississippi to Britain. In 1776 the British ships Beggar's Bennison, Lord North, Philip, Nancy and Swallow departed with 927 captives from West Africa but only 797 survived to disembark in Mississippi. Following the American Revolution 348 captives were transported from Jamaica to Mississippi between 1784 and 1786. , The Africans were not a monolithic group. Abducted from "nations" in Senegambia, Congo, Angola and Whydah (Benin) regions, they included the Wolof, Fulo, Mandinka and Bambara who spoke Sereer, Malinke, and Pulaar. Their agricultural skills cultivating rice, corn, tobacco, cotton and indigo were essential to the survival of the colony. They were also highly skilled metalworkers in gold, silver, and copper. , Despite diverse origins, these Africans melded different traditions, customs and beliefs to establish a rich heritage which is foundational to the unique culture that is the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast today. , Biloxi MS was declared a UNESCO Site of Memory in 2019.