Are there any records of Nigerians kidnapped and transported to Tennessee or enslaved in Tennessee, or dudes / girls kidnapped from what is known today as Nigeria ?

Grok: 

Yes, there are records and historical evidence indicating the presence of enslaved individuals from the region now known as Nigeria in Tennessee, though specific documentation tying individual Nigerians enslaved directly to Tennessee is often limited due to the nature of historical records from the era of the transatlantic en-slavers trade. 

Here’s what is known based on historical research:

During the transatlantic slave trade (15th to 19th centuries), millions of enslaved Africans were shipped from the area that is now Nigeria to the Americas.

This region, particularly the Bight of Biafra and the Bight of Bonny, was a major source of enslaved people, with many belonging to ethnic groups such as the Igbo, Yoruba, and Ibo-related peoples.

These individuals were transported to various parts of North and South America, including the United States.

In Tennessee, enslavement was established as early as the 1760s when Anglo-American settlers brought enslaved Africans into the region.

By 1860, Tennessee had an enslaved population of 275,719, making up about 25% of the state’s total population.

While exact origins of individual enslaved people are rarely specified in records (often listing only vague terms like "African" or no origin at all), historical and genetic studies provide insight into the likely presence of Nigerians among them.

Genetic research, such as the 23andMe study referenced in sources like Quartz Africa, has shown a significant overrepresentation of Nigerian ancestry among African Americans in the United States, including in the Southeast where Tennessee is located.

This overrepresentation is attributed not only to the initial transatlantic trade but also to the intra-American en-slavers trade, where enslaved people from the British Caribbean (many originally from Nigeria) were redistributed to mainland states like Tennessee.

The internal enslavement trade, particularly from states like Virginia to the "New South" (including Tennessee), further facilitated this movement.

Historical records specific to Tennessee, such as plantation documents, census records, and schedules (e.g., the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Census Schedules), often list enslaved individuals by name, age, and sometimes physical description, but rarely their precise African origins.

However, some indirect evidence exists:

• Plantation Records: Collections like Kenneth M. Stamp’s "Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations" include mentions of enslaved people in Tennessee, occasionally noting their origins or ethnic characteristics that align with groups from Nigeria (e.g., Igbo or Yoruba traits noted anecdotally by enslavers).
• Freedmen’s Bureau Records: Post-Civil War records from the Freedmen’s Bureau in Tennessee (1865–1872) document freed individuals, some of whom may have been born in Africa or were first-generation descendants of Nigerians, though explicit references to Nigeria are uncommon.
• Oral Histories and Cultural Traces: Enslaved Nigerians, particularly the Igbo, left cultural imprints in the Americas. In Tennessee, the lack of large plantations (most enslavers owned fewer than 10 enslaved) suggests smaller, mixed communities where Nigerian cultural influences (e.g., in music or spirituality) might have blended with others, though these are harder to trace directly.
• 

  
  

The ports of Bonny and Calabar in present-day Nigeria were key departure points for slaves sent to the Americas, and Tennessee, as part of the cotton-producing South, was a destination for many via the domestic trade.

Memphis, a major hub of the interstate enslavement trade, likely saw enslaved Nigerians pass through or settle, given its role in redistributing kidnapped Africans from the Upper South to the Deep South.

In summary, while no single document might explicitly state "this enslaved person in Tennessee was from Nigeria," the combination of historical trade patterns, genetic evidence, and regional slave demographics strongly suggests that individuals from what is now Nigeria were among the enslaved population in Tennessee.

For more precise records, one would need to consult specific Tennessee plantation archives, slavers manifests (e.g., coastwise trade manifests from ports like Charleston or New Orleans), or local historical societies like the Tennessee State Library and Archives, though these rarely pinpoint exact African origins.

Grok: [ Edited by Olofin ]