“Deeper Roots” by Abdullah Hakim Quick

Not much is mentioned about the facts surrounding the Moorish presence in the Americas and the Caribbean until the 19th century, despite the fact that there has been a Moorish presence in this region for over one thousand years. Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick’s work is an attempt to dispel some of the misconceptions about Moorish history in the Americas and to help put into perspective the actual achievements and travels of Moorish explorers, merchants, and settlers.

On pages 36-37 we find “The King:

“To our officials who reside in the city of Seville at the House of Trade of the Indies. We are informed that because of the increase in the price of Negro slaves in Portugal and in the islands of Guinea and Cape Verde, some merchants and other persons who intend to have them for our Indies have gone or sent to buy Negroes in the islands of Sardinia, Majorca, Minorca, and other parts of the Levant in order to send them to our Indies because they say that there they are cheaper. And because many of the Negroes in those parts of the Levant are of the race (casta) of the Moors and others trade with them and (since) in a new country, where at present our holy Catholic faith is being established, it is not fitting that people of this quality should go there, on account of the difficulties that could come from it. I order you that under no circumstances or by any means shall you consent to the passage of our Indies, islands or Tierra firma of any Negro slaves who may be from the Levant or who may have grown up there, or of other Negroes who may have been reared with Moriscos, even though they be of the race of Negroes of Guinea.”