Robert Benjamin Lewis (1802 - 1858) was an American inventor, entrepreneur and author of African and Pequod or Mohegan heritage. This unusual work of ethnology seeks to reframe biblical and ancient history through an Afro-Indigenous lens, spanning the creation of the world until the Haitian Revolution.
This complex compendium not only makes an argument that Strabo, Julius Ceasar and Plato were all African, but also posits that Native Americans and Pacific Islanders are descendants of Israelites, and thereby also originate from Ethiopia. In an era of harmful pseudoscience and white supremacy, though flawed in its own ways, this argument is a powerful rebuttal, sourcing many of the same ancient texts used to perpetuate myths of Black inferiority. Alongside this he incorporates biographical sketches of “Modern Eminent Coloured Men”, with additional sections on modern historians and writers. These include the likes of Alexander Dumas, Gustavus Vassa (Oulado Equiano), Ignatius Sancho, David Walker, Phillis Wheatley and Marian Stewart. He highlights several other Afro-Indigenous figures, like Paul Cuffee and William Apess, whilst also describing Phillis Wheatley’s correspondence with Samson Occom.
The final chapter of the book deals with “St. Domingo or Hayti”, and includes a “brief sketch of the late and passing Revolution”. He quotes from John Candler’s report, and from the Abbé Gregoire. By finishing his overview of world history with a description of the first modern free Black republic, he makes a powerful statement not only about the long history before Black oppression (as it manifested in America contemporary to his lived experience), but also the possibility of a future beyond it.
There is some confusion around the publication history of this book. It was first published in Portland Maine by D. C. Colesworthy in 1836. That edition had only 176 pages, meaning that the text doubled in length by the time the second edition was ready for print. This revised edition appears to have been intended for release by a press in Hallowell, ME in four 100pp fascicles beginning in 1843, though OCLC records only a handful of copies of the first part. It’s likely, therefore, that the project was abandoned before the other three parts were printed. In 1844 the publication was picked up by “A Committee of Colored Gentlemen” in Boston, comprising local business owners Thomas Dalton, Charles H. Roberts, Andrew V. Lewis and James Scott. The printing was undertaken by Benjamin Franklin Roberts, a remarkable individual in his own right. The son of Robert Roberts, author of The House Servant’s Directory (1827), he was a notable abolitionist, contributor to the Liberator, and advocate for integrated education. Indeed, in 1848 he took the city of Boston to court when they refused his daughter admission to a local white school. This case, Sarah Roberts v. Boston, was ruled against him and laid the groundwork for Plessy v. Fergusson. It was later cited in Brown v. Board of Education, finally overturning in 1954 the “separate but equal” ruling.
Pilling 2284a, cf. Sabin 40845.
