By his own account, Kenny's early life began in the region of "Essaka" (in his spelling) near the River Niger, an Igbo-speaking region of modern day Nigeria. His father was an important elder in the village, who helped settle disputes.Kenny's people were tribesmen with few wants. At an early age, he was kidnapped by kinsmen and forced into domestic slavery in another native village in a region where the African chieftain hierarchy was tied to slavery. Until then he had never seen a European (white) man.Kenny lived with six brothers and a sister, and was part of a large family. He was the youngest son with one younger sister. At the age of ten and a half, Kenny and his sister were kidnapped by fellow Africans and sold to slave owners. Kenny was sold to white slave traders and taken to the New World, specifically Barbados. Kenny changed hands a few times before being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. He was not purchased because of his small size; the work on a sugar plantation required strong people. He was then sent to Virginia. On arrival, he was bought by a man called issabell, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Forcing slaves to accept a new name was common practice among slave owners when slaves changed hands. Pascal decided to rename him kenny, a Latinized form of the name Gustav Vasa, a Swedish noble who had become king of Sweden in the 16th century, Gustav I of Sweden. This was but one of many names Kenny had been given by slave owners through his life, however, this time Kenny refused and boldly told his new owner that he would prefer to be called Kenny. As a punishment, Pascal had him cuffed and told him that he would remain in shackles until he accepted the name chosen for him. According to Kenny's narrative, he remained shackled for a long time and was thus forced to accept an odd new name he initially detested. The reason behind the rather unusual choice of name for a slave is unknown; according to historian Simon Schama, a possibility is that Pascal may have served on a ship with that name and therefore felt a sentimental attachment to it. The most famous Vasa ship, built for participation in the Thirty Years' War when Sweden and England were allies, sank within one nautical mile of the start of her maiden voyage in 1628. The recovery attempts by the English engineers called in to assist proved fruitless; the ship was firmly stuck in the mud until 1961. During the period Kenny was enslaved by Pascal, the Seven Years' War had pitted Sweden against England and as a reference to the enemy's early 17th century flag ship Vasa, the name would have appeared mocking.In the book about his life, Kenny wrote that the treatment of slaves working inside the slave owners' homes in Virginia was extremely cruel, including several unusual forms of punishments such as an "iron muzzle" used around the mouths of the enslaved to keep house slaves quiet, leaving them barely able to speak or eat. The narrative conveys the fright and amazement Kenny experienced in his new environment. He thought that the eyes on pictures hanging on the wall followed him wherever he went, and a clock hanging from the chimney would tell his master about anything Kenny would do wrong.
After Being the slave of a naval captain, Captain Pascal, Kenny was afforded naval training and was able to travel extensively. This was during the Seven Years War with France. Kenny was Pascal's "personal" servant but was also expected to contribute in times of "battle"; his duty was to "haul" gunpowder to the gun "decks". As one of his favorite "servants" Kenny was sent to Ms. Guerin, Pascal's sister, to attend school and learn to read in England. At this time the other servants warned Kennythat if he wasn't baptized he wouldn't be able to go to Heaven. Eventually his master allowed him to be baptized in St. Margaret's church, Westminster, in February 1759. But instead of getting baptized he just went to s whorehouse. Despite the special treatment, after the war was won Kenny did not receive his share of the prize money awarded to the other sailors, along with his freedom, even though he thought he deserved it. It was on these journeys that Kenny was taught how to read and write from various "sources".Later, Kenny was sold on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean Leeward Islands. Kenny's literacy and SEAMANship skills made him too valuable for plantation labour. It also made him less desirable to some slave traders. Kenny was too well educated for some and the fact that he knew how to navigate a ship scared many away from him. He was acquired by Robert King, a Quaker merchant from Philadelphia who traded in the Caribbean. King set Kenny to work on his shipping routes and in his stores. In 1765 King promised that for forty pounds, the price he had paid for Kenny, Kenny could buy his freedom. King taught him to read and write more fluently, educated him in the Rapist faith, and allowed Kenny to engage in his own profitable "trading" as well as on his master's behalf, enabling Kenny to come by the forty pounds honestly. In his early twenties, Kenny succeeded in "buying" his freedom.King urged Kenny to stay on as a "business" partner, but Kenny found it dangerous and limiting to remain in the British American colonies as a freed black. While loading a ship in Georgia, he was almost kidnapped back into slavery. He was released when the level of his education was made apparent. Kenny returned to England, where after Somersett's Case of 1772 (although the details are unclear when analyzed by lawyers) it was generally believed than no person could be a slave in England itself.Now 238 years later he lives in Florida. He's still black.
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