American Slave

An American plantation owner on the edge of bankruptcy. A Tunisian privateer cut off from his inheritance. A French opportunist who seeks wealth at every turn. And an African slave haunted by the sins of his father.

As a young United States begins its first overseas war in an effort to halt Berber aggression, a chance encounter in the Mediterranean will tie together the fates of these four individuals. While two of these men will struggle desperately to escape North Africa, the others will strive to ensure that their schemes succeed, even if they must kill to do so.

In the middle of a conflict bridging three continents, trust and loyalty will be questioned, hope and perseverance will be tested, and the ability to forgive may be lost forever.

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What is American Slave?

American Slave is a work of historical fiction set at the dawn of the nineteenth century, but the factual backdrop of the story developed centuries prior.

As early as the fifteenth century, the Berber people of Northern African began sailing across the Mediterranean Sea to attack Europeans, many of whom they would capture and take back home. These Europeans would be enslaved and forced into hard labor, subject to the whims of their Berber masters. While some Europeans would be ransomed by wealthy family members and be freed to return to Europe, many more spent their entire lives in captivity. Although it is unknown exactly how many Europeans were enslaved from Berber raids between 1500 and 1850, some historians have placed the count as high as one million, making the Berber raids one of the most extreme accounts of human trafficking in history.

By 1776, when America declared its independence from Great Britain, raids on the European mainland had all but ended. Berber ships continued to harass European ships on the sea, however, unless those nations agreed to pay extravagant payments of tribute in exchange for safe passage. Most of these attacks originated from the powerful cities of Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli.

American ships were no exception to this rule, although leaders in Washington were less thrilled about the idea of perpetual tribute than their European counterparts and often refused to pay. As a result, hundreds of Americans were captured in the Mediterranean between 1776 and 1800, the Berbers demanding excessive ransoms for their release. One ransom alone in 1795 involving 115 Americans amounted to almost 1/6th of the entire United States budget. In the face of continued aggression, President Jefferson declared war on the Berbers, sparking the First Barbary War, which was America's first war on foreign soil. The famous words of the Marine hymn, "from the shores of Tripoli," originate here.

This is where American Slave begins.

On one side of the Atlantic, William King has been struggling to save his family's cotton plantation from financial ruin. When he is offered an opportunity to travel to Europe in an effort to break into the growing trans-Atlantic cotton trade, he jumps at the chance to finally turn his circumstances around. Meanwhile in North Africa, a Berber privateer's disagreements with his father have reached an impasse, threatening to destroy his vision for the future. Determined to secure his own legacy, he sets off on a vengeful path to tear his father down from power by any means, making use of anything or anyone that enters his path...