Joseph Emidy (also spelt Emedy or Emedee) had been second violin in the orchestra of the Lisbon opera house before being pressed into the Royal Navy in 1795. Born in West Africa in c.1775 JOSEPH ANTONIO EMIDY was enslaved as a child by Portuguese traders, taken to Brazil and subsequently Portugal where he became a virtuoso ...

Examiner.com 1492-1493- A black navigator, Pedro Alonso Nino, travels with Christopher Columbus 1494- The first Africans arrive in Hispaniola (current day Haiti - Dominican Republic) with Christopher Columbus. They are free persons. 1501- The Spanish king allows the introduction of enslaved African into Spain 1511-The first enslaved Africans arrive in Hispaniola. 1513-Thirty African accompany Vasco Nunez de Balboa on his ...